CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 23, 2007
Men's Basketball Advances to Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame Championship Game
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 82, Cornerstone 77
GRAND RAPIDS -- A career-high 32 points from junior point guard Caleb Veldhouse helped Calvin hold off a young but scrappy team from Cornerstone Friday night in the first round of the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame Classic at Cornerstone's Mol Arena. Calvin defeated Cornerstone 82-77 to advance to the championship game for the eighth time and for the the first time since 2004.
Calvin is now 10-7 in the 12-year history of the tournament including 8-1 in first round games. The Knights are also 4-3 against Cornerstone in the tournament. Calvin will be facing Aquinas in Saturday's championship game as the Saints defeated Hope 78-69 in overtime in Friday's other first round game. Aquinas will be bidding for its first-ever Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame title while Calvin will be seeking its third including its first since 2000. Calvin is 5-1 against Aquinas in the tournament.
In its win over Cornerstone Friday night, Calvin (3-0) led 37-34 at halftime despite being outrebounded 27-20 in the opening 20 minutes. Junior Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls, SD) came up with 12 points in the first half and continued to pour it on in the second half, scoring seven points in the opening seven minutes to help Calvin open up a 58-45 lead. Calvin continued to lead by double-digits at 79-68 on a jumper by Veldhouse with two minutes to play but the host Golden Eagles (3-5) refused to fold, scoring five unanswered points to trim the deficit to six at 79-73 with 43 seconds remaning. Senior Derek Griffin (Whitehall HS) then stepped up to hit a pair of free throws and Veldhouse added another to hold off Cornerstone's last-minute comeback.
Friday's game featured the 18th meeting between Calvin and Cornerstone in a matchup that is evolved into the "Battle of the Beltline." Calvin leads the all-time series between the two East Beltline rivals 13-5.
In addition to the 32 points from Veldhouse, Calvin also received 11 points from sophomore Matt Veltema (Calvin Christian HS), 10 points and six rebounds from sophomore Josh Engelsma (Covenant Christian HS) and nine points and five rebounds from Griffin. Junior Todd Koetsier (Calvin Christian HS) also had a strong game off the bench with four points and six rebounds.
Cornerstone was led in defeat by Caleb Simons with 15 points and eight rebounds while Kelvin DeVries had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Cornerstone held a 47-41 rebounding advantage but shot just 36.5 percent overall while Calvin shot 45.6 percent from the field. Calvin also outscored Cornerstone by seven points at the free throw line with the Knights hitting 26 of 38 (.684) from the charity stripe while the Golden Eagles were 19 of 25 (.760) from the line.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Nov 24 00:03:49 2007
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