CALVIN SPORTS REPORT (PART TWO) FOR February 25, 2005
(Written by Calvin Sports Information Student Assistant Abby Zylstra)
After splitting games with Hope during the regular season, Calvin took the
rubber match as it defeated the Flying Dutchmen, 82-61 in an MIAA Tournament
semifinal game Friday night at Albion to advance to the MIAA Tournament finals
for the second straight year.
The Calvin victory snapped a four-game losing skid to Hope in MIAA Tournament
play. The Knights will face the host Britons of Albion (24-2), an 86-77 winner
over Adrian in Friday's second semifinal game.
The first couple minutes of Calvin's game with Hope were an intense battle
with four lead changes between the Knights (21-6) and the Flying Dutchmen
(15-12).
Hope took its last lead of the game, 10-7, before Calvin scored 10 straight
points including big three-pointers from Ricky Shilts and Josh
Vriesman. Hope battled back to within four points of Calvin, 20-16, but
Calvin retailiated, scoring another 10 straight points, extending
its lead to fourteen, 30-16, with 11 minutes left in the first half.
At the half, Calvin held its biggest lead yet, 41-25.
Senior forward Dan Aultman scored six of Calvin's first eight points in the
second half
to maintain Calvin's double-digit margin. The Knights took their biggest lead
of 20 points with 11:50 left in the game, 61-41.
However, Hope went on a 12-4 run to narrow the gap to 12 with 7:45 left in the
game. A crucial three-pointer by junior forward Joel Hoekstra and five points
from junior guard Kyle Trewhella extended Calvin's lead to 18, 73-55. Calvin
gained its biggest lead of the game, 80-58, on an Andy Draayer three-pointer
with 3:08 left to play in the game with the Knights cruising from there.
"We were really good. Defensively we were very intense," said Calvin's
head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "Tonight we all seemed to be very
confident."
Calvin placed four players in double-digits in scoring with Aultman leading
the way with 16 points on 8 of 12 shooting while Ricky Shilts and Trewhella had
13 points apiece. Hoekstra chipped in with 11 points and a game and
career-high six assists.
Hope was led in defeat by Travis Spaman who collected 14 points and five
rebounds.
Calvin held Hope to 41.5 percent field goal shooting including just 34.6
percent in the first half when it jumped out to a double-digit lead.
Conversely, Calvin shot 58.9 percent from the floor and connected on 12 of 23
from beyond the three-point arc for a 52.2 percent three-point clip.
"So much of it hinged on us defensively and getting stops. Shilts and Joshn
Vriesman set the tone for the defense," said Vande Streek. "We didn't
double one time tonight. The guys took great pride in doing it individually.
This was our best defensive rebounding game against Hope
this year."
"The league has been really balanced all year long" continued Vande Streek.
"Tomorrow night, whoever it is we face is certainly going to be a great
opponent. Hopefully we bring our 'A' game."
The Calvin-Albion championship final is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. It will
mark just the second time that the two teams have met in the tournament final
with Calvin edging the Britons 74-72 in the 1993 championship game.
MORE CALVIN BASKETBALL NOTES
*Calvin is now 25-7 in MIAA Tournament play.
*Calvin will be making its 10th appearance in the MIAA Tournament Championship
game. The Knights are 6-3 in nine prior MIAA Tournament finals with all three
defeats coming against Hope.
*Calvin junior Andy Draayer connected on a pair of three-pointers in Friday's
game with Hope, bringing his season total to 88, matching the Calvin
single-season record originally established by Todd Hennink during the 1989-90
season.
*Calvin now leads the all-time series with Hope 80-77. In addition, the
Knights have retaken the lead in total points scored in the series with Calvin
holding an 11-point edge with 10,550 points to the 10,539 points of Hope.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Feb 25 22:46:47 2005
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