CSR (Calvin Men's Basketball Team Survives Upset Bid by Olivet in MIAA Tourney)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2006

Knights Survive Upset Bid by Olivet in First Round of MIAA Tournament

MEN’S BASKETBALL
(Written by Annalise VenHuizen '08)

GRAND RAPIDS * Wednesday’s first round MIAA tournament game between Calvin (21-5) and Olivet (6-20) “was a struggle,” according to Head Coach Kevin VandeStreek. The Knights, who are ranked 13th in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, managed to defeat Olivet by six points, 82-76, despite a lower field goal percentage. With the win, Calvin (21-5) advances to the MIAA Tournament semifinals where it will face Kalamazoo (11-15) Friday night. Hope will face Albion in the first semifinal game Friday with Friday’s winners meeting in the Saturday night finals at 7:30 p.m.

Calvin’s woes began early in the first half, forcing Calvin to use most of the half to play catch-up. After a 5-3 Calvin lead, Olivet took charge and soon held a 23-13 lead over the Knights. Finally getting the act together, the Knights staged a 14-0 run, including seven points from senior Andy Draayer (Denver, CO/Denver Christian), making the score 29-25 Calvin. With a three by Olivet’s Derek Kurtz and a lay-up by Brandon Way, Olivet regained a one-point lead over the Knights, 33-34. Five points by freshman Dustin Smith (Hamilton/Hamilton), though interrupted by an Olivet jumper, recaptured a two-point lead in Calvin’s favor, 38-36.

The second half began on a sweeter note for Calvin, as junior Josh Meckes (Bay City/Saginaw Valley Lutheran) opened with a lay-up and freshman Caleb Veldhouse Sioux Falls, SD/Sioux Falls Christian) added four points. After senior Kyle Snoeyink (Grandville/Calvin Christian) made what would be the first of many second-half free-throws for Calvin, the Knights held a seven point lead, 47-40. Four straight free-throws, two each from Smith and Meckes, brought the score to 51-43. Due to an Olivet foul and subsequent back-to-back technical fouls on the Comets , Calvin was given six consecutive free-throw attempts and sunk all six: four from Draayer and two from freshman Tyler Zoerhof (Holland/Holland Christian). After a Zoerhof lay-up that quickly followed, Calvin found itself up 16 points, 59-43, with half of the second half still to come.

But Olivet was not finished with Calvin quite yet; the Comets embarked on a 10-0 run to close the gap to six, 59-53, and after two made free-throws by Veldhouse, made two consecutive shots to come within only three points of the Knights, 61-58. Calvin again got a boost from the free-throw line: besides a three-pointer from Veldhouse, Calvin’s only points in the last five minutes of the half came from the free-throw line. During this time, Olivet did not get within four points of the Knight, though making almost every shot they put up. Ten of these Calvin free-throws came from Veldhouse, while Draayer made four, including two after a third Olivet technical foul. Despite a near-perfect free-throw percentage, the game came down to the wire, as Olivet did not relent but simply ran out of time.

The Knights were 37-40 (92.5 percent) from the line, including 31-34 made free-throws during the second half. With this mark, Calvin set a MIAA Tournament single-game record for the most free-throws made. Caleb Veldhouse, who made all 14 of his allotted free-throws also established a new MIAA Tournament record for most free-throws made in a single game.

“It was a struggle,” said Coach VandeStreek. “It seemed like every time we had a chance to put it away, we just couldn’t. We finished the first half okay, but in the second we lost our focus and they came right back. It seemed like we just couldn’t make a shot.”

Calvin was lead in victory by Veldhouse, who had 24 points, Draayer with a contribution of 17 points, and Smith, who scored 11 points.

Leading Olivet were Derek Kurtz with 24 points, including four three-pointers, De’Andre Pruitt with 17 points and eight rebounds, and Gerald Dozie with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND SCORES

Calvin 82, Olivet 76
Albion 69, Adrian 53
Hope 85, Alma 63
Kalamazoo 61, Tri-State 58

MIAA TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL PAIRINGS AT CALVIN FIELDHOUSE *FEB. 24, 2006

Hope (24-2) vs Albion (20-5) at 6:00 p.m.
Calvin (21-5) vs Kalamazoo (11-15) at 8:15 p.m.

MIAA TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME FEB. 25, 2006 AT 7:30 P.M.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Feb 22 23:27:59 2006