CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR JANUARY 24, 2007
Women’s Basketball Defeats Rochester/Men’s Basketball Moves Into Three-Way Tie For Second Place in MIAA Standings With Win Over Kalamazoo
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 74, Kalamazoo 63
(Written by Drew DeVries ’08)
GRAND RAPIDS - Statistics show that when the Knights trail at halftime and get out-rebounded, they have a hard time winning. Tonight against the visiting Hornets of Kalamazoo, Calvin overcame both obstacles to win a real dogfight 74-63. With the victory, Calvin moved into a three-way tie for second place in the MIAA standings with Adrian and Tri-State as all three teams are 5-2 in league play.
Typical of previous games this season, the Knights (10-7 overall) struggled in the first half with sluggish play but once again were able to rally behind a second half surge.
The first scoring posession for the Hornets was the story of the Knight's woes for the first half. Kalamazoo's first basket came off of a Calvin turnover which also included an offensive rebound. The Hornets had six second chance points off of six offensive rebounds in the first half. The Knights also gave up an early triple which was something Calvin struggled with last game against Albion.
Things started looking up, however, when after a steal by Josh Meckes (Bay City/Saginaw Valley Lutheran), freshman Matt Veltema (Grandville/Calvin Christian) connected from behind the arc to give Calvin a 10-7 lead; its largest and last lead of the half.
After a timeout, the Knights seemed to be playing scrappier ball but could not hide behind their poor shooting. Calvin shot a dismal 26.9 percent from the field in the first half of play. It allowed Kalamazoo to begin building its lead which eventually got to eleven points with two minutes remaining. Calvin trailed 31-20. But a Derek Griffin (Whitehall/Muskegon CC) triple and some free throws by Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls, SD/Sioux Falls Christian) cut the lead to 33-26 at halftime.
"We were fortunate to only be down by seven," said Calvin head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "They outworked us and played incredibly hard. Not to be down 16 or 18 at the half; we were lucky."
The second half began, and after a turnover by Calvin leading to a Kalamazoo fast break, it appeared Calvin fans were in for more of the same type of game witnessed in the first half.
But then Meckes took a nice feed from Veldhouse for an easy lay-up which triggered an 11-0 Calvin run and the turning point of the game. Griffin later hit his second of back to back triples that vaulted the Knights into the lead for the first time since Veltema's triple in the first half. The Knights led 37-35 with over fifteen minutes to go.
But Kalamazoo (2-14 overall, 0-7 MIAA) stayed right with the Knights. The lead went back and forth over the next couple of minutes when a triple by Veldhouse finally put the Knights up 43-41 and up for good. Another Calvin run, this time a 9-0 run, was fueled by Todd Koetsier (Walker/Calvin Christian) who provided the Knights with a much needed spark coming off the bench. In only three minutes of play, Koetstier scored four points and collected a rebound.
"Koetsier is an effort guy," says Vande Streek. "I was proud of him [Koetsier] and [Mischa] McCray. They were called on after not playing much over the last couple of games and came out ready to play. They both did a nice job showing great effort with Koetsier scoring some huge baskets for us."
Yet the Hornets were still hanging around. They were able to cut the lead to five twice withing the last six minutes but Griffin came through again scoring two more of his game high 19 points and followed it with a steal and then drawing a foul. Again, the Hornets fought back scoring three more points down the court after it appeared the ball went out of bounds untouched by the Knights. But the ball was awarded to Kalamazoo and the Hornets capitalized cutting the lead to 61-56 with three minutes to play.
But Veldhouse answered with a triple that may have been the dagger and following a turnaround jumper by Veldhouse later on, the Knights had sealed the victory. Kalamazoo refused to give up, however, forcing the Knights to hit their free throws down the stretch and the Knights did just that going a perfect 6-6 from behind the charity stripe in the last minute. After it was all said and done, Calvin walked away with the 74-63 win.
Griffin finished the game with a double-double collecting 10 rebounds on top of his 19 points. Veldhouse finished with 14 while Meckes added 12. Tyler Worst led all Kalamazoo scorers with 18.
Still, Vande Streek was disappointed with his team's effort in the win. "I am at a loss. We had a lot to play for but Kalamazoo just wanted it more."
Vande Streek feels strongly that his team has not yet reached its full potential. "We have a lot of games to play yet and I'm still waiting for our team to be as good as I know we can be. We want to win but I want to be able to say that this team got to be as good as we can be. I can't say that after today. We have to get out of these past habits and get to the point where we play hard for 40 minutes."
Calvin's next game will be Saturday when it travels to Indiana to face Tri-State for a game time scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
OTHER MIAA BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Adrian 79, Alma 73
Hope 101, Tri-State 57
Albion 73, Olivet 43
MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-24-07 GAMES
Hope 7-0
Adrian 5-2
Calvin 5-2
Tri-State 5-2
Albion 3-4
Olivet 2-5
Alma 1-6
Kalamazoo 0-7
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 99, Rochester College 36
(Written by Bruce VanBaren ’09)
The Knights rolled to a 99-36 victory over Rochester College Wednesday night as Calvin took a break from conference play. Just past the mid-point in conference play the Knights improved to 16-1 and stand in first play in the MIAA at 9-0 with a one-and-a-half game lead over Hope College.
Ranked fourth in the latest ESPN/USA Today Division III Coaches’ poll, Calvin jumped to an early 8-0 lead and never looked back as Calvin utilized its dominate post presence and outstanding outside shooting. Calvin went into the half with the game well in hand leading 58-19.
The Knights shot 50% (5 of 10) from behind the arc and out- rebounded the Lady Warriors 28-9 in the first half. With the game well in hand, nine Calvin players scored in the first half with 17 of Calvin’s points coming off turnovers. Marcia Harris (Grand Rapids Christian) led Calvin with 11 first half points and four rebounds.
Calvin came out shooting in the second half, opening up with a 12-0 run as Allison Griswold (Lansing Christian) and Marissa Walker (Cedar Springs) combined for four of four from behind the arc in the first three minutes of play.
Despite a 4:13 scoring drought, the Knights finished with 99 points, well above their 72.5 season scoring average. Calvin scored 71 points off of the bench as Brook VanEck (Lowell) led the team with a career high 18 points off the bench.
Griswold tallied 17 points, her career high, including five of seven from the arc and Harris put up 11 points. Walker and VanEck led with 9 rebounds each as Walker also added a career high nine points.
Calvin shot 53.7% from the field and 11 of 28 from three point range; they were ranked fourth in the nation with a 38.5 three point field goal percentage as well as a 46.9 field goal percentage heading into the night. The Knights turned the ball over 13 times and scored 31 points off of 20 Rochester turnovers.
Tiffany Durham led the Lady Warriors with 9 points as Calvin held Rochester to 26.7% from the field and only gave up one three point field goal.
Calvin will return to action Saturday at 7:30 as the second half of the MIAA schedule gets underway at home against Adrian. The game will be broadcast at calvin.edu/sports.
OTHER MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Hope 91, Tri-State 56
Saint Mary’s 66, Alma 58
Adrian 66, Kalamazoo 55
Olivet 47, Albion 34
MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-24-07 GAMES
Calvin 9-0
Hope 8-2
Olivet 6-4
Saint Mary’s 6-4
Alma 3-6
Adrian 3-7
Kalamazoo 2-8
Tri-State 2-8
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Jan 24 23:13:31 2007
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