Calvin Men's Basketball Team Tops Trinity Christian at United Center

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 15, 2006

Trip To United Center Proves Fruitful for Calvin Men's Basketball Team

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 72, Trinity Christian 63

CHICAGO, IL -- Calvin's first-ever trip to the Chicago United Center proved to
be a winning one as the Knights defeated non-conference rival Trinity Christian
College 72-63 on the homecourt of the NBA's Chicago Bulls. The victory was
Calvin's fourth win in as many years against the Trolls who served as the home
school for Friday's contest.

For most of the first half, Trinity Christian (4-8) kept Calvin (5-3) at bay as
the Trolls were able to score from the perimeter while the Knights struggled to
adjust to the environment of the large arena.

Trailing 24-17 with just over six minutes left in the half, Calvin dug in on
defense, holding the Trolls scoreless for a nine-minute span that stretched
into the opening minutes of the second half. Meanwhile, Calvin's offense got
untracked as the Knights scored nine unanswered points to end the first half to
take a 26-24 halftime lead. The 9-0 spurt by the Knights fueled a 20-3 scoring
run by Calvin as it stretched its lead to double-digits early in the second
half.

Trinity was able to cut the deficit down to eight points at 69-61 inside the
final minute of play but got no closer as the Knights pulled away for the win.

Calvin featured a balanced scoring attack led by junior guard Derek Griffin
(Whitehall HS) who scored 20 points including four three-point field goals.
Senior center Josh Meckes (Bay City) also had a big game for the Knights with
12 points and nine rebounds while sophomore guard Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls,
SD) had 13 points and freshman forward John Mantel (Chelsea HS) 11 points and
five boards.

Senior center Eric DeVries (Unity Christian HS) and sophomore point guard
Dustin Smith (Hamilton HS) added seven points apiece.

Trinity Christian College was led in defeat by junior wing Kurt Gruppen (Unity
Christian HS) who pumped in a game-high 25 points including 18 in the second
half. Senior point guard Nick Rykse (Tri-unity Christian HS) also had 10 points
for the Trolls while senior center Ty DeWitte (Unity Christian HS) added nine
points and seven boards.
Gruppen finished the game 10 of 15 from the floor including 5 of 9 from
three-point range.

Calvin shot 44.7 percent overall including 60 percent in the second half when
the Knights outscored the Trolls 46-39. Calvin also held a 37-36 rebounding
edge and finished the game with 14 assists against only 12 turnovers.

Calvin returns to action on December 29 when it faces Wisconsin-LaCrosse in a
first round game of the Mose Hole Classic hosted by the College of Wooster. The
game will feature a rematch of a first round NCAA III Tournament game from a
year ago. Calvin won the 2006 NCAA III Tournament meeting 79-71. Host Wooster
will face Ohio Northern in the other first round game December 29.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Dec 15 18:16:00 2006