CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 16, 2005
MEN'S BASKETBALL
The final chapter of the Calvin-Hope men's basketball rivalry at the Holland
Civic Center was completed on Wednesday night and when the story was completed,
it was the host Flying Dutchmen coming out on top by a 71-68 score in front of
a sellout crowd of 2,750 fans.
The Hope victory snapped Calvin's three-game win streak and also dropped the
Knights, (18-6 overall, 10-3 MIAA) one game behind the league-leading Albion
Britons (11-2 MIAA) which scored an 80-72 triumph at Alma Wednesday night. The
combination clinches at least a share of the MIAA title for Albion. The
Britons can sew up their first outright league crown since 1979 with a win over
visiting Kalamazoo. An Albion victory on Saturday would snap a streak of 25
straight years that either Calvin or Hope have gained at least a share of the
MIAA regular season crown.
With time ticking down late in the first half of Wednesday's Calvin-Hope clash,
it appeared that the visiting Knights would take control of the game as they
held a 34-27 lead with under three minutes to play. Calvin had a chance to go
up nine but threw the ball away on a two-on-one fast-break opportunity. Hope
(13-11 overall, 9-4 MIAA) would then score eight unanswered points in the final
two minutes of the half capped off by a three-pointer from the right wing by
junior Jeff Carlson to take a 35-34 halftime lead.
Ranked 15th in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, Calvin would never
completely regain the momentum although the Knights would take a pair of brief
second half leads, going up 45-44 on a layup by sophomore Josh Meckes and 48-46
on another basket inside from Meckes. Hope would answer with pivotal hoops
each time Calvin attempted to make a surge however with Carlson swishing
another three to make it 49-48 with 12:10 remaining. Carlson's second triple
of the game sparked a 7-0 Hope run that lifted the Flying Dutchmen into a 53-48
lead with 10:03 left on the clock.
Calvin would claw its way back down the stretch, eventually tying the game at
64 on a shot off the window by junior Kyle Trewhella (Rockford HS) with 3:43
left. Hope would then take a four-point lead on two occasions inside the final
three minutes of play but Calvin would cut the lead to two at 70-68 on a pair
of free throws from senior Dan Aultman with 1:07 left on the clock.
Calvin would then force a Hope turnvoer with 47 seconds remaining, giving the
Knights a chance to tie or take the lead. With 20 seconds left on the clock,
Aultman was able to break free for a 10-foot jumper on the right baseline but
his shot rimmed out with Hope grabbing the rebound and forcing the Knights to
foul.
Phillips would then split a pair of free throws, giving the Knights one last
chance, down by three. Calvin would get three-point attempts off - the first
by senior Ricky Shilts and the second by junior Andy Draayer - but both would
be off the mark as an emotion-charged Hope crowd swarmed the floor after the
final buzzer.
"Emotion played a big factor in this game," said Hope head coach Glenn
VanWieren in the post-game press conference. "This was our final game in this
place against Calvin and we wanted to make a statement with a victory. In
order for our team to be successful, we need to play with emotion and we did
that tonight."
According to Calvin head coach Kevin Vande Streek, the emotions of the home
crowd and of the game may have gotten to his players. "For our team to be
successful, we need to play as a team and I didn't think we did a very good job
of that," he said of his team that accumulated just six assists against 17
turnovers. "Part of the credit for that certainly goes to Hope's defensive
effort which was very good. But I also thought we let the emotions of this
game get to us. We made some unforced turnovers we don't normally make and we
played like a bunch of individuals at times."
Calvin was led in defeat by Aultman who scored 13 points and grabbed six
rebounds. Draayer was next wtih 12 points off the bench while seniro Ricky
Shilts, junior Brian Roelofs and Meckes had nine points apiece. Junior Joel
Hoekstra (Unity Christian HS) was Calvin's top man on the boards with seven.
Hope was led in the victory by Phillips who tallied a double-double with 14
points and 12 rebounds while senior Travis Spaman had 12 points and seniors
Daane Griffeth and Kyle Kleersyner 10 points apiece.
Hope finished with a 40-37 rebounding edge including 22-16 in the second half.
"I thought rebounding was pivotal for us, particularly down the stretch," said
VanWieren. "We did a great job closing out the boards when we needed to."
Heading into Wednesday's game, Calvin was ranked third nationally in
three-point field goal percentage (.438) but against the Flying Dutchmen, the
Knights were just four of 16 (.250) from beyond the arc.
Wednesday's game marked the 156th meeting between Calvin and Hope in a series
that now sees Calvin holding a 79-77 series lead with Hope holding the all-time
points lead by a 10-point margin (10, 478-10, 468).
Calvin returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Tri-State at 3:00 p.m. in
front of a homecoming crowd that will include Calvin men's and women's
basketball alumni that will gather for special reunions on Saturday.
OTHER MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Albion 80, Alma 72
Olivet 108, Tri-State 104
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-16-05
Albion 11-2
Calvin 10-3
Hope 9-4
Adrian 7-6
Alma 5-8
Olivet 5-8
Kalamazoo 3-10
Tri-State 2-11
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
(Story written by Abby Zylstra)
Calvin picked up a key conference victory as it defeated 15th nationally-ranked
Albion, 49-45, Wednesday night at the Calvin Fieldhouse to remain in contention
for a #2 seed for next week's MIAA Tournament.
A Calvin victory over Adrian on Saturday and an Albion loss at Hope would give
the Knights a share of second place in the final MIAA regular season standings
with Albion and also the #2 seed by virtue of its pair of victories over the
Britons this year. Hope clinched a share of the MIAA title with Calvin's
victory Wednesday night. Albion could still pick up a share of the final
league crown and gain the #1 seed for the MIAA Tournament with a victory over
Hope on Saturday however. Albion handed Hope its only conference defeat
earlier this year. Both of Albion's conference defeats have come against
Calvin.
In Wednesday's game at the Calvin Fieldhouse, Calvin (18-4 overall, 12-3 MIAA)
took an early 6-1 lead, but the Britons (21-3 overall, 13-2 MIAA) came back
with six
consecutive points to take their first lead of the game. The Knights
answered with a seven point run to take back the lead. Albion took the
lead for the last time at 22-20 with three minutes left in the first half.
The Knights would battle back with six straight points to take a four-point
lead at the end of the first half, 26-22.
In the second half, the Knights reached their biggest lead of eight
points, 43-35, but Albion managed to tie the game at 45 with 1:47 left
in the game.
Sophomore Lisa Winkle [Grand Rapids/South Christian]
then stepped up in a big way as she scored a lay up with just under a minute
remaining and then picked up a critical steal with eight seconds remaing and
passed the ball ahead to senior Kristen McDonald who was promptly fouled.
McDonald responded [Grand Rapids/West Catholic] by knocking down both free
throws with four seconds remaining to give the Knights an insurmountable
four-point
lead.
"Anytime you beat a nationally-ranked team, it's a good win," said head
coach John Ross. "I'm real pleased. It was a great defensive effort."
Lisa Winkle led the Knights with her 10th collegiate double-double as she
tallied a game-high 16 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots. Her rebound
total also matched a career-high. McDonald dished out a game-high 10 assists
along with three steals.
For Albion, Jessica Babcock and Jaime Fornetti each scored nine points
and Sarah Caskey scored seven points with a team high two assists.
"If we play Albion again, we've got to figure stuff out offensively,"
said Ross. "I don't think we can score 49 points again and expect to win."
The Knights return to action at home Saturday against Adrian at 7:30 in front
of a homecoming crowd.
OTHER MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Alma 60, Adrian 46
Tri-State 100, Olivet 89
St. Mary's 58, Olivet 50
MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-16-05
Hope 14-1
Albion 13-2
Calvin 12-3
Tri-State 7-9
Alma 6-9
Kalamazoo 5-10
St. Mary's 5-10
Olivet 2-13
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Feb 17 00:38:03 2005
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