CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR JANUARY 26, 2005
MEN'S BASKETBALL
ANGOLA, IN * Just two days removed from an emotional 66-54 victory over rival Hope, the nationally-ranked Knights of Calvin College showed no signs of a letdown in recording a 90-82 victory at Tri-State University Wednesday evening at Hershey Hall.
Ranked 23rd in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, Calvin (14-4 overall, 6-1 MIAA) stretched its winning streak to five games with the win over the host Thunder (4-14 overall, 1-6 MIAA) while remaining in a tie for first place in the MIAA standings with Albion at 6-1 in the league.
Calvin entered its game with Tri-State locked in a three-way tie for first place with Albion and Adrian but the league lead has been paired down to two teams at the midway point of the MIAA regular season schedule as Adrian was defeated by Olivet 77-71 Wednesday to fall to 5-2 in league play while Albion improved to 6-1 in the conference with a 74-63 win at Kalamazoo.
Calvin used defense to gain the win over Tri-State as the Knights held the Thunder 14 points under their season scoring average, forced 18 turnovers and held Tri-State to just 41 percent field goal shooting.
Ranked third nationally in three-point field goal percentage heading into Wednesday's game, Calvin lived up to its billing as it connected on 14 of 31 attempts from beyond the arc for a 45.2 percent three-point clip. Juniors Andy Draayer (Denver, CO) and Kyle Trewhella (Rockford HS) along with senior Brad Sall (Unity Christian HS) were the catalysts in Calvin's perimeter attack as Draayer was 5 of 9 from long range; Sall 4 of 6 and Trewhella 4 of 8.
Draayer sparked a 13-2 first half Calvin run that vaulted the Knights into a double-digit lead as he connected on three triples in a two-minute span and added a pair of free throws after a Tri-State technical foul.
Tri-State would cut the lead down to seven points on two occasions but Sall would answer with back-to-back triples in the final 1:15 of the half, allowing Calvin to take a 47-37 halftime lead.
Calvin's lead would balloon to as much as 22 points in the second half before Tri-State would gradually chip into the Calvin lead with the Thunder connecting on a three-point shot at the final buzzer to bring the final margin to eight points.
"I thought our defense tonight was terrific," said Calvin men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek. "I was extremely concerned before tonight's game because of the way Tri-State can put points on the board. We told our players that we needed to focus on the things we could control and that was defense and rebounding. We were successful on both counts and that was the reason why we were able to come away with a win."
Calvin held a 51-30 rebounding advantage in the contest with sophomore Josh Meckes (Bay City) leading the way with 10 boards while senior Dan Aultman (Mason County Central HS) also ripped down seven caroms to go with 18 points.
Draayer led the Knights in scoring with 21 points off the bench while Sall had a career-high 14 points with Trewhella scoring 12 and dishing out six assists.
"With the up-tempo style that Tri-State likes to play, we knew we could get some open three-point looks off the fast-break," said Vande Streek. "We were able to knock in our open looks from the perimeter which made for an added bonus."
Calvin's bench also outscored Tri-State's reserves 49-23 with freshman Todd Koetsier (Calvin Christian HS) and junior Brian Roelofs (Delaware, PA) chipping in with six points apiece with Roelofs ripping down six boards and Roelofs picking up two assists.
Wednesday marked the first game for Roelofs since breaking his wrist in a December 3 game at Wheaton. "Koetsier and Roelofs really gave us a big lift off the bench," said Vande Streek. "If you expect to beat a team like Tri-State, you have to have contributions from your bench and we got that tonight."
Tri-State was led in defeat by Mo Brookins who tossed in 24 points including six three-point field goals while Aaron Rehrer had 11 points and four assists.
Calvin will now turn its attention to a Saturday contest at home against second place Adrian (5-2 MIAA). In the first meeting of the year between the two schools, Calvin pulled out a 70-69 victory on an off-balance shot by senior Ricky Shilts (Kalamazoo Central HS) in the closing seconds after the Knights had trailed by double-digits earlier in the second half.
Saturday's game at the Calvin Fieldhouse is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.
OTHER MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Albion 74, Kalamazoo 63
Hope 79, Alma 59
Olivet 77, Adrian 71
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-26-05
Albion 6-1
Calvin 6-1
Adrian 5-2
Hope 4-3
Alma 3-4
Kalamazoo 2-5
Olivet 1-6
Tri-State 1-6
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
ALMA * Calvin remained in the MIAA title hunt with a come-from-behind 64-52 victory at Alma Wednesday night.
Attempting to bounce back from a disappointing 67-50 defeat to rival Hope Monday night, Calvin (14-3 overall, 8-2 MIAA) trailed 27-26 at halftime against the host Scots (7-8 overall, 2-7 MIAA) and still trailed 33-30 with 16:34 remaining after Ferris State transfer Darcie Phillip canned a jumper for Alma.
Calvin would score the next five points however as senior Kristen McDonald (West Catholic HS) connected on a three-point shot and added a pair of free throws to give the Knights a 35-33 lead. The Knights would never trail again although the game would remain nip-and-tuck with Alma tying the game at 42-42 on a tip-in by Phillip with 8:03 remaining.
Calvin would then rip off an 11-2 scoring run to take control of the game as senior Lisa Nanninga (Grand Rapids Christian HS) converted a three-point play and McDonald swished back-to-back three-pointers. Sophomore Lisa Winkle (South Christian HS) capped off the run with a pair of free throws to give the Knights a 53-44 lead with 4:31 remaining.
Alma would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way as the Knights held on for the win.
McDonald led Calvin with 24 points and six steals while connecting on four triples and dishing out three assists. With her three assists, McDonald built her career assist total to 285 and moved back 1985 Calvin graduate Sharon Boeve and into fifth place on the all-time Calvin assist list.
Lisa Winkle added her ninth collegiate double-double as she scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds while blocking three shots. Senior Lesa Holleman (Chandler, MN) added 10 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Alma was led in defeat by Katey Peacock's 17-point effort while freshman Erica Phillip had nine points and junior Darcie Phillip eight points.
Calvin shot just 34.6 percent from the floor but held Alma to 36.7 percent shooting including just 24.3 percent in the second half. The Knights also outscored the Scots by nine points at the free throw line as they were 23 of 34 at the stripe while Alma was 14 of 16 at the line.
Calvin returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Tri-State for a 3:00 p.m. contest.
OTHER MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Albion 72, St. Mary's 59
Hope 79, Olivet 56
Tri-State 97, Adrian 83
MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-26-05
Albion 9-1
Hope 9-1
Calvin 8-2
Kalamazoo 4-5
St. Mary's 4-6
Tri-State 4-6
Alma 2-7
Adrian 2-8
Olivet 2-8
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Jan 26 23:28:57 2005
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