CSR (Calvin Basketball Teams Capture Tournament Titles)

CALVIN EVENING SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 18, 2006

Basketball Teams Capture Tournament Titles

MEN’S BASKETBALL
(Written by Calvin Sports Information Student Assistant Bruce VanBaren)
Calvin 79, Benedictine 60

Calvin defeated Benedictine University of Illinois 79-60 behind Caleb Veldhouse’s (Sioux Falls, SD/ Sioux Falls Christian) career high 29 points to capture the 6th Annual Calvin College Tip-Off Tournament Saturday afternoon.

While Calvin’s 79 points hailed in comparison to yesterday’s 98 against Concordia, the Knights played better defensively allowing sixteen fewer points and out-rebounded Benedictine 43- 18.

“I think [rebounding] is something we just have to keep working on,” Coach Kevin Vande Streak said. “Eventually with our depth I think we can wear people down. It gives you an awful lot of scoring opportunities as opposed to the other team who’s one shot and out. It’s something we want to emphasize and continue working on.”

The Knight’s took an early lead in the game behind Veldhouse’s 16 first half points. Calvin led by as many as eight in the first half after an outstanding effort by Veldhouse, hitting a fade away jumper off the glass.

Benedictine’s Jared Bailey kept his team in the game with back to back three pointers to stifle Calvin’s hot start and cut the Knight’s lead to four. Calvin lead at the half 36-31.

Calvin jumped out to an early 17 point lead fueled by two Tyler Zoerhof (Holland/ Holland Christian) steals and six early points by Derek Griffin (Whitehall/ Muskegon CC). The Knights held Benedictine scoreless four minutes into the half before Dan Klecan exploded for two three point field goals.

Josh Meckes (Bay City/Saginaw Valley Lutheran) kept the Knights rolling with the first two three point field goals of his career. A Meckes put-back pushed Calvin into a 19 point lead. Calvin led by as many as 23 in the second half.

Veldhouse, who matched his total yesterday in the first half today, led all scorers with 29. “[Veldhouse] really came up and tried to put pressure on and hit a lot of shots down the stretch,” Coach Kevin Vande Streak said. Meckes put up ten points and grabbed seven rebounds. John Mantel (Chelsea/Chelsea) also put up ten and had five rebounds.

“The first half we didn’t shoot particularly well and now we just need to work on being more consistent,” Vande Streak said. “Defensively, we’ll do what’s right one time and the next time we won’t. But this early in the year and as young as we are, I’m pretty pleased with where we’re at.”

Veldhouse, who put up a combined 45 points, was named the tournament MVP. Meckes was also named to the all tournament team for the second consecutive year. Jeff Forbes (Grace Bible), Jacob Carwell (Benedictine), and Joshua Atkinson (Concordia) were named to the all-tournament team as well.

Calvin advances to 2-0 on the season and Benedictine falls to an even 1-1. Calvin will host the Select Bank Tournament next weekend. Hope will face Cornerstone at 6 p.m. Friday and Calvin will take on Aquinas at 8 p.m. next Friday.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 73, Elmhurst 36

ELMHURST, IL * Calvin captured the championship of the Elmhurst College Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday, defeating the host Blue Jays 73-36 in the championship game.

Calvin led 37-17 at halftime and held Elmhurst (1-1) to 28.6 percent field goal shooting in rolling to the win. Senior Lisa Winkle (South Christian HS) led Calvin in the win with 24 points and 11 rebounds, notching her 31st collegiate double-double in the process. Winkle’s 24-point effort also moved her into second place on the Calvin career scoring list as she moved past Sharon Boeve and Sarah Ondersma on Saturday. Winkle now has 1,306 career points. Winkle also has 740 career rebounds which ranks second on the Calvin career list.

Sophomore Marcia Harris (Grand Rapids Christian HS) also had 14 points and five rebounds for the Knights while sophomore Kristi Brummel (South Christian HS) had seven points, four assists and four steals.

Elmhurst (0-2) was led by Lyndsie Long who scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Harris and Winkle were both named to the all-tournament team for Calvin.

Calvin (2-0) returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts non-conference rival Aquinas at 7:00 p.m. at the Calvin Fieldhouse

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Nov 18 18:45:25 2006