CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 15, 2006
Men's Basketball Clinches Share of MIAA Title;
Women's Basketball Picks Up Double-Digit Win at Olivet
MEN'S BASKETBALL
(Written by Annalise VenHuizen '08)
Calvin 78, Albion 66
GRAND RAPIDS - Tonight's game was a crucial one for the Knights, and they certainly stepped up to the challenge. In the 78-66 conference win over visiting Albion (18-5, 9-4 MIAA), Calvin maintained its one-game lead over Hope in MIAA standings. The Knights (19-5, 12-1 MIAA) also insured themselves of a number one seed heading into the MIAA tournament, regardless of the outcomes of Saturday's games; Calvin would hold the tie-break advantage, being 2-0 over Albion while Hope is 1-1 against the Britons this season.
The MIAA title is Calvin's first since the 2002 season and is the 27th in school history. Only Hope has won more MIAA titles in men's basketball than Calvin with 32 but since Calvin joined the MIAA in time for the 1953-54 academic year, no MIAA school has won more league crowns than the Knights.
"Winning the MIAA title is a great accomplishment but we're not satisfied yet," said Calvin men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek. "We have a chance to win an outright title on Saturday so we have no plans of relaxing against a very talented Kalamazoo team. If we want to have a chance at winning on Saturday, we'll need to bring our very best effort to the table."
In the win over 8th-ranked Albion, 19th-ranked Calvin did not waste any time, holding an early ten-point lead, 15-5 after five minutes of play. Freshman Tyler Zoerhof (Holland/Holland Christian) made two back-to-back field goals to give the Knights a 14-point advantage at 21-7. A series of missed Calvin shots, however, allowed the Britons to cut the lead to eight points, 31-23 with 5:30 left in the half. An Albion three-pointer made the score 35-28, threatening to edge closer to Calvin, but freshman Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls, SD/Sioux Falls Christian) finished out the half with two free-throws and a last-second jumper to give the Knights a 13-point lead for the second half. Calvin led 41-28.
The second half got off to a rocky start for Calvin, as Albion was able to string together seven uncontested points, narrowing the gap to 41-35. After senior Kyle Snoeyink (Grandville/Calvin Christian) broke Calvin's scoring drought with a jumper, Albion's Zak Silas connected on back-to-back three-pointers, with Calvin's lead deteriorating to two points at 43-41. A 10-0 run for Calvin, capped of by a three-point play by junior Josh Meckes (Bay City/Saginaw Valley Lutheran), distanced the Knights by double-digits again, 53-41. Though Silas sank another three, Calvin strung another run together, ripping off 15 unanswered points to take a commanding twenty-point lead, 68-48 with just under seven minutes to play. Silas put a halt to the run with jumper, and the scoring was back-and-forth for the remainder of the game. Though Calvin scored only two points to Albion's nine during the last three minutes of play, the Knights still came up with a 12-point lead, defeating the Bri!
tons 78-66.
In the win, Calvin was 16-16 from the free-throw line, an accomplishment that obviously contributed heavily to the victory. Head Coach Kevin VandeStreek said "It's a matter of getting the right guys to the line and having them focus. Tonight we stepped right in and knocked the free throws down, start to finish."
Calvin scoring was lead by Snoeyink, who had 14 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Veldhouse added 13 points, senior Kyle Trewhella (Rockford/Rockford) followed with 12 points and five defensive rebounds, and Meckes was also a double-digit contributor with 11 points.
Leading Albion was Silas with 20 points, including four three-pointers, Brandon Crawford with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Mike Bailey, who had 10 points.
Saturday's Homecoming game with Kalamazoo will take place at 3:00 p.m. at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
OTHER MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Adrian 75, Tri-State 72
Hope 90, Alma 46
Kalamazoo 59, Olivet 47
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-15-06
Calvin 12-1
Hope 11-2
Albion 9-4
Kalamazoo 7-6
Tri-State 6-7
Adrian 3-10
Olivet 2-11
Alma 2-11
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 81, Olivet 60
OLIVET * Calvin got back on the winning track with an 81-60 victory at Olivet Wednesday night. Four days after falling by a double-digit margin at rival Hope, Calvin bounced back in style against the host Comets, connecting on 54.9 percent of its field goal attempts including 53.8 percent from three-point range.
Ranked 16th in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, Calvin bumped its season record to 20-3 overall, reaching the 20-win plateau for the third straight year and for the ninth time in school history. In addition, Calvin improved to 13-2 in the MIAA while Olivet dropped to 12-12 overall and to 8-7 in conference play.
Calvin broke open a close game with a 15-2 second half run to build 64-45 lead with 7:35 remaining and never looked back.
Calvin freshmen Marcia Harris and Kristi Brummel led the Calvin attack with 17 points apiece with Brummel notching a career-high in the process as she was 5-for-6 from the floor including 3-of-3 from three-point range. Junior Lisa Winkle also had a big showing with 11 points and 12 rebounds to collect the 26th double-double of her career. Senior Sarah Winkle and sophomore Lindsey Peuler added 10 points apiece while junior Chrais Larson and freshman Sarah Partridge both had six points.
Olivet was led in scoring by junior Audrey Graham with 20 points while Jennifer O'Neil had 17. The Comets shot just 31.1 percent overall and committed 20 turnovers.
Calvin will now prepare for a homecoming contest on Saturday when the Knights host Alma at 1:00 p.m. at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
OTHER MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Hope 71, Alma 49
Kalamazoo 65, Tri-State 60
Albion 77, St. Mary's 58
MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-15-06 GAMES
Hope 15-0
Calvin 13-2
St. Mary's 9-6
Olivet 8-7
Albion 8-7
Alma 7-8
Adrian 4-11
Kalamazoo 3-12
Tri-State 1-15
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Feb 15 22:50:56 2006
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