CSR (Calvin Men's BBall Downs York in Consolation Final - Takes 3rd at NCAA III Final Four)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 19, 2005

MEN'S BASKETBALL

SALEM, VA * The team that was picked to finish in third place in the MIAA pre-season coaches' poll has finished third in the nation.

With a 98-84 victory over York College (PA) in the consolation final of the NCAA III Final Four Saturday afternoon, Calvin (27-7) secured a third place national finish.

The Calvin victory came on the heels of a heart-breaking 65-62 loss to the University of Rochester the night before in a game that was decided on a three-point field goal with 4.7 seconds left to play.

Despite the emotional setback the night before, Calvin (27-7) came out with vigor and determination against York (28-3) as it held a 41-37 halftime lead and then outscored the Spartans 57-46 in the final 20 minutes of play.

The game also provided milestone moments for Calvin seniors Ricky Shilts (Kalamazoo Central HS) and Dan Aultman (Mason County Central HS) as Shilts tossed in a career-high 24 points while Aultman reached the 1,000 point plateau for his career with a 13-point effort in his final game in a maroon and gold uniform.

A native of Ludington and a graduate of Muskegon Community College, Aultman became just the second player in Calvin men's basketball history to hit 1,000 points in a two-year career as he closed out his two-year Calvin stint with 1,005 points. The only other two-year player at Calvin to accomplish the feat is also a Muskegon Community College graduate * Dan Davis * who scored 1,121 points from 1987-to-1989.

"I'm very proud of our guys," said Calvin men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek who moved into a tie for second place in the Calvin career win list with Barney Steen with Saturday's win, recording his 187th victory at Calvin against just 67 defeats. "Our loss to Rochester was a very tough defeat to swallow. It was a very emotional evening so you never know what kind of emotional state a team will be in the next day but our guys responded well. We were a little sluggish on defense at the beginning but we picked it up and pushed the tempo which is something (up tempo style of play) we do well."

For Aultman and Shilts, the thought of a letdown was unthinkable.

"I've got so much love and respect for Calvin College, my teammates and our coaching staff," said Shilts who also finished the game with five rebounds, four assists and no turnovers from his point guard position.. "There was no way I was going to let them down with a lack of effort."

"I'm so thankful for the opportunity Calvin has given me," said Aultman. "This institution has changed my life for the better. I wanted to go out with a victory and give something back to our fans and the college."

Unaware of his milestone at the time, Aultman hit the 1,000 point plateau with on a free throw with just 4:36 left in regulation. "I wasn't really aware that I was that close to 1,000 points until our assistant coach Aaron Winkle said something to me after the game," said Aultman. "I wondered why everyone was going crazy when I made that free throw. It's a pretty neat accomplishment. Something I didn't even know about until later."

Aultman and Shilts were part of four Calvin players to reach double-digits in scoring as junior Joel Hoekstra (Unity Christian HS) had 14 points with junior Andy Draayer (Denver, CO) tossing in 13 points.

Draayer connected on three of Calvin's 13 three-pointers on the afternoon with Shilts also tossing in four and five other Calvin players connecting on at least one.

Calvin would finish the game 13 of 32 from beyond the arc for a 40.6 percent three-point clip. "One of the things we like to do is shoot three-pointers off the transition," said Vande Streek. "The faster tempo of today's game helped create a number of three-point looks for team."

Calvin held just a one-point lead at 43-42 in the opening minutes of the second half but the Knights broke the game open with an 11-2 scoring run to build a 54-44 lead. Leading 78-72 with just over eight minutes to play, Calvin then put the closing touches on the win with a 12-4 run that included five points from both Shilts and Hoekstra.

Also closing out their collegiate careers for Calvin on Saturday were seniors Brad Sall (Unity Christian HS) and Josh Vriesman (Denver, CO). Sall finished Saturday's game with three points and four steals while Vriesman had six points and five assists.

"I've never been on a team before with the level of trust that that team had," said Hoekstra. "I've also never been through a season where it was this difficult to see it come to an end. Our team is so tight-knit and it's hard to let go. There's no question that the closeness of this team played a big role in our team's success."

York was led in defeat by 6-7 freshman Chad McGowan who scored 18 points off the bench with junior Brandon Bushey close behind with 15 points and junior Paddy Lee following with 15. Brian Singer, a 6-8 freshman center, also had 10 points and five boards for the Spartans.

"I'm really proud of these kids," said York College coach Jeff Gamber. "Last night UW-Stevens Point was 12-of-24 from three, today Calvin took 32 threes. We didn't do a good job of guarding the three-pointer this weekend. At the same time, I couldn't be more proud of the fight in these kids"

Calvin finished the game with a 48.6 percent field goal clip while York connected on 49.2 percent of is shots. Both teams also shot well at the free throw line with Calvin hitting 15 of 19 (.789) of its free throw attempts while York was 17 of 20 (.850) at the line.

York had opened the weekend with an 81-58 loss to UW-Stevens Point Friday night, snapping the school record 14-game win streak by the Spartans.

Calvin's appearance on Saturday marked its second-ever appearance in the consolation game of the NCAA III Final Four. In 1990, Calvin had dropped an 87-86 decision to Washington College of Maryland in the consolation finals.

In reaching the NCAA III Final Four this year, Calvin also became the first team to reach the Final Four by winning four games either on the road or on a neutral floor.

Calvin's pair of games in Salem also marked its fourth appearance in the NCAA III Final Four as the Knights were fourth in 1990, national champions in 1992 and 2000 and third this year.

In 15 trips to the NCAA III Tournament, Calvin is now 28-16 in tournament play, ranking it eighth on the all-time NCAA list for tournament victories.

In addition, Calvin's third place finish on Saturday marked its third top 10 national finish of the winter sports season as its women's swimming and diving team took 10th at the NCAA III Championships last weekend while its women's basketball team also reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA III Tournament the same weekend.
  

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Mar 19 18:04:56 2005