CSR (Women's Hoops Tops Albion/Men's Hoops Rolls Over Alma)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31ST 2007

Women's Hoops Comes Up Big at Albion
Men's Hoops Hits Century Mark in Win Over Alma

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 75, Albion 65
(written by Colin McWhertor ’08)

ALBION - The Calvin women’s basketball team overcame a strong Albion defense to pick up a big MIAA road win Wednesday evening. Calvin, ranked third nationally in NCAA III women’s basketball polls by ESPN/USA Today and D3Hoops.com, used great inside play and timely shooting to beat the Britons 75-65 at the Kresge Gymnasium.

The Knights remain undefeated in league play this season at 11-0 (18-1 overall) and won their 15th straight game despite having to claw out the victory. Calvin remains a game-and-a-half ahead of second-place Hope College in the MIAA. Albion falls to 6-6 in the MIAA and 11-9 overall for the season.

Calvin head coach John Ross was pleased with how his team handled playing in a tough environment. “Winning at Albion is one of the hardest things to do,” he said. “It is certainly one of the toughest places to play in Division III hoops and we came out and played very well to get the win.”

Albion (11-9 overall, 6-6 MIAA) led through much of the first half as the Britons used the shooting of Jessica Babcock to jump out to a leads of 12-6 and 18-12 at points in the first half. A short jumper by senior Lisa Winkle (GR South Christian) and a lay-up by Brooke Van Eck (Lowell) put Calvin up 21-20 with under nine minutes remaining in the half. Sophomore Marcia Harris (GR Christian) then took over on offense for the Knights. Harris scored the next four baskets from the floor for Calvin as she mixed in an array of post-moves and short jump-shots. Despite Harris’ great play, Albion stayed close as Calvin led 32-31 at the half.

In the second half, the Britons tied the game at 47 on a lay-up by Emi Guimond five minutes after the break only to see the Knights answer with back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Kristi Brummel (GR South Christian) and junior Lindsey Peuler (Grandville). When Brummel completed a fast-break lay-up with 12 minutes left the Knights lead had ballooned to seven. The Britons countered with a 5-0 run to climb back to within two but a steal and lay-up by junior Nikki Zimmerman (Traverse City) kept the Knights one step ahead of the Britons. Calvin was able to stave off any comeback by Albion by converting its free-throws. Two free-throws by Brummel put the game out of reach in the final minute, giving Calvin a 73-65 advantage.

Harris led all scorers with 19 points for Calvin. Brummel proved to be the difference for Calvin as she scored a career-high 18 points off the bench. Winkle was equally impressive in scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, collecting her 40th collegiate double-double. Calvin shot 45.5 percent from the field and converted on 21 of 25 (84 percent) free-throws. Calvin continued its impressive ball-control of late by committing a season-low nine turnovers while the team dished-out 18 assists, led by Peuler who had four.

Coach Ross was hoping Winkle and Harris would come up big. “Lisa and Marcia played so well down in the post,” he said. “We tried to establish that early and set the tempo for the game. They’ve been dominant for us all season and it was no different in this game.”

“Kristi Brummel was great tonight,” Ross said about his leading bench-scorer. “We’ve come to expect great play from her; she has been a constant performer at a very high level for us. She is a fighter and great to have as a weapon off the bench, I can’t say enough about her.”

Babcock and Megan Garvey each scored 15 points for Albion; the Britons converted 40.4 percent of their field goals and 86.4 percent of their free-throws.

Calvin is back in action on Saturday when its plays St. Mary’s College at home in an afternoon affair starting at 3pm. Calvin defeated St. Mary’s by only one-point, 53-52, when the two teams faced each other down in South Bend in early January.

MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS AS OF 1-31-07

Calvin 11-0
Hope 10-2
St. Mary’s 8-4
Olivet 6-5
Albion 6-6
Alma 4-7
Adrian 3-9
Kalamazoo 2-9
Tri-State 2-10

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 105, Alma 49
(written by Bruce VanBaren ’09)

After Saturday’s loss to Tri-State, Coach Kevin Vande Streek questioned his team’s toughness and passion. Tonight, the Knights answered as they exploded to a 105-49 win over Alma College, a game in which they never trailed.

With the win, Calvin (11-8 overall) moves into a three-way tie for second place with Adrian and Tri-State at 6-3. Adrian dropped an 80-67 decision at Kalamazoo on Wednesday while Tri-State fell at Albion 69-59.

“We were very enthusiastic and I was very impressed,” Vande Streek said. “Obviously we shot the ball well so that makes a big difference, but it’s still about talking and denying on defense and having some enthusiasm and fun. I know Alma didn’t play particularly well, but I thought we played very well.”

Derek Griffin (Whitehall/Muskegon CC) led Calvin with a career high 26 points, hitting an amazing 7 of 9 three pointers. The Calvin record for three-point field goals in a game is 12 set by Todd Hennink in a 1990 win over Malone. Griffin leads the league in three point field goals and is ranked 15th nationally in three-point field goal percentage.

Calvin as a team caught fire offensively and shot 61.2% from the field and 65% (13 of 20) from behind the arc. All but one player scored for the Knights as they had their best offensive effort of the season.

Calvin opened up the game with a 20-4 lead under five minutes into the game as Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls Christian) and Griffin led the Knights on a 12-0 run. Veldhouse and Griffin combined for five three pointers in the first five minutes. The 12-0 run was capped by Griffin’s four-point play, the first of two that he would have in the game.

Calvin took a 50-22 lead into the half. The Knights shot 9-for014 from three point range in the first half. Griffin was 6 of 8 from behind the arc and had 19 first half points. Alma didn’t shoot a free throw in the first half and turned the ball over ten times. Calvin scored 17 points off of those turnovers in the first half.

Out of the locker room, Griffin and the Knights picked off right where they left as he opened up with five quick points. Matt Veltema (Calvin Christian) then caused the crowd to erupt as he hit back to back ‘and one’s, the first of which was a four-point play, Calvin’s third of the game.

“Sometimes if you’re up at half, you start thinking about how great the first half was and you don’t come ready to go, but we did a really nice job and got off to a really great start in the second half,” Vande Streek said.

Veltema hit back to back triples later in the second half as well as he put up a career high 17 points, shooting 3 of 5 from three-point range.

As good as Calvin was in the first half, the Knights were even better in the second half as they shot an outstanding 76.7% from the field. Calvin scored 34 points off of 19 Alma turnovers and scored 46 points in the paint and 54 off the bench.

Calvin was led in scoring by Griffin and Veltema. John Mantel (Chelsea) put up 13 points and Veldhouse added 9 points. Mantel led the team with 7 rebounds.

Isaac Smith led the Scotts with 15 points, but turned the ball over 10 times. Alma shot 31.7% from the field and 38.5% from behind the arc.

Calvin returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Adrian in a match-up of second place teams. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.

MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-31-07

Hope 9-0
Adrian 6-3
Calvin 6-3
Tri-State 6-3
Albion 4-5
Olivet 3-6
Alma 1-8
Kalamazoo 1-8

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Jan 31 22:18:21 2007