CSR (Men's Basketball Downs Tri-State in MIAA Tourney Semis - To Face Hope In Finals)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 23, 2007

Calvin-Hope Matchup On Tap for MIAA Title Tilt

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 82, Tri-State 66
(Written by Bruce VanBaren '09)

HOLLAND- Derek Griffin (Muskegon CC/Whitehall HS) exploded for 21 second half
points to lead the Knights past Tri-State 82-66 Friday night at the DeVos Field
house. The Knights will play in the MIAA Tournament championship game tomorrow
night at the DeVos Field house. Calvin will be making its fourth straight
appearance in the MIAA Tournament finals and its 12th appearance in 16 tries.
Calvin is 7-4 in 11 previous appearances in the MIAA Tournament championship
game.

Calvin will face rival Hope in the MIAA Tournament Championship game as the
Flying Dutchmen advanced to the finals with a 77-61 victory over Adrian in
Friday's second semifinal contest. Saturday's title tilt will mark the 165th
meeting all-time between the two storied rivals in a series that is deadlocked
82-82. It will also be the fourth meeting of the season between the two teams
with Hope winning the first two and Calvin winning the most recent meeting by a
score of 77-71 back on February 7. Finally, the match-up will mark the fourth
meeting between the two teams in the MIAA Tournament finals with Hope winning
all three previous meetings, winning 63-62 in 1997, 70-63 in 2002 and 68-55 in
2006.

In Friday's win over Tri-State, Griffin who was 0 of 4 from the field in the
first half, hit 8 of 11 second half shots including 5 of 8 from three point
range to lead the Knights with his 21 points. "He was in one of those rhythms,"
Calvin head coach Kevin Vande Streek said. "When he's in a zone like that, it
doesn't matter if he's in the locker room. He can make it."

"A lot of my offense is a result of our defense," Griffin said. "I get a lot
of points in transition. Our point guard Dustin Smith (Hamilton HS)] run the
transition offense well and sets us up for good looks."

Griffin's explosion came after Tri-State led early, stretching its lead to 11
at 15-4 early on. Vande Streek had voiced concern for Tri-State's ability to
hit the three point shot prior to Friday's game. In the first half his
concerns appeared well warranted as Tri-State connected against the Knight
defense with timely skip passes. Maurice Brookins and Ryan Kinzie combined to
hit 4 of 8 from three point range in the first half and as a team the Thunder
hit 6 of 16 from beyond the arc.

But when Griffin heated up in the second half, the Thunder cooled down. "I
give Calvin a lot of credit," Tri-State coach Rob Harmon said. "It was just a
matter of Griffin hitting some huge shots for them. We've lived and died by
the three all season with Brookins and Benford. It's just that Benford had a
bad game shooting; he's only a sophomore and he got frustrated."

When Tri-State topped Calvin earlier this year in the team's second meeting,
Tony Benford and Brookins combined for 8 of 19 from three point range. Tonight
Benford was 2 of 9 from the arc and 3 of 17 from the field. Brookins led the
Thunder with 16 points and Kinzie added 13. John Moore was the third Thunder
player in double figures, while Benford finished with 8 points. Calvin and
Tri-State split the regular season series with each team winning its home game.
 
Tri-State opened up the game on an 11-2 run as Brookins drained two three
pointers and Benford hit one while Calvin struggled from the field shooting
hitting only 2 of its first 7 shots.

Tri-State continued to rain three pointers hitting its first 4 of 7 to run out
to a 24-14 lead after Ryan Kinzie became the fourth Thunder player to hit from
behind the arc. Calvin was helped by Eric De Vries's (Unity Christian) four
points and Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls Christian) and Dustin Smith (Hamilton
HS) who each hit a three point shot.

"It was very frustrating in the first half," senior Josh Meckes said. "We
weren't dictating. We were almost scared with the ball."

After trailing 24-14, the Knights went on a 10-0 run to tie the game at 24-24
after John Matel (Chelsea HS) ripped a rebound away from a defender and then
put back his own miss. Over the 10-0 run Smith and Veldhouse again each hit a
three point shot. Calvin shot 5 of 11 from three point range in the first half
with Veldhouse and Smith combining for all five.

Four points off Tri-State fast breaks and four points in the paint for Calvin
put the Tri-State up 30-28 with three minutes left in the first half. Ryan
Kinzie answered Veldhouse's third three pointer of the half to put the Thunder
up 33-31 into the half.

Calvin shot 33.3% from the field in the first half, but 45% from the three
point line. Tri-State shot 40.6% from the field and 37.5% from three point
range hitting 6 of 16. Brookins and Kinzie led all scorers with 10 points each
combining for 4 of 8 from three point range. Veldhouse led the Knights with 3
of 6 from three point range, but finishing the half 0 for 9 from the rest of
the floor. Smith added 8 and Eric DeVries had 6.

"At halftime it was dead in the locker room," Meckes who admitted thinking that
this might be the last 20 minutes of basketball in his career. "We just had to
rise above it and be assertive in the second half. It's the 26th game of the
year and it should have been over a lot sooner than it was."

Calvin looked like a new team in the second half. The Knights opened on a 10-2
run capped by a Matt Veltema three pointer. But it was Derek Griffin who
really came alive. After going 0 for 4 in the first half opened up 3 of 3 from
downtown and hit 5 of his first 5 from the field.

Benford hit Tri-State's first three of the half to cut the Knight's lead to
47-45 after the Thunder opened up 0 for 4 from three point range. But it was
more Griffin as he led 29 -12 run to put the Knights up 60-49 with 10 minutes
left. Griffin didn't miss a shot in the second half until 8:22 left in the
game. Calvin finished the half on a 22-17 run to advance to its fourth
consecutive MIAA title game.

Four Knights finished in double figures. Griffin led the team while Veldhouse
put up 13. Smith and Kyle Snoeyink (Calvin Christian) added 10 points. Meckes
was just shy with 9 points, but led the team with 11 rebounds.

"We have the attitude that tomorrow is always the biggest game of the year,"
Meckes said. "All 14 guys need to get after it and bring the energy."

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Fri Feb 23 22:04:31 2007