CSR (Basketball Teams Split/Swim Team Recap from EMU Invite)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 30, 2007

Basketball Teams Split on Day One of CCIW/MIAA Classic;
Day One Swim Recap from Eastern Michigan Invitational

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 75, Carthage 63
(written by Bruce VanBaren ’09)

A year ago Calvin struggled against Carthage, shooting just 32% from the
floor. Tonight that statistic was reversed as Calvin, ranked 15th in the latest
d3hoops.com poll, used seven three pointers and John Mantel’s (Chelsea)
nineteen points to defeat Carthage College 75-63 in game one of the CCIW/MIAA
Challenge at the Fieldhouse.

Carthage (3-1) shot just 32.9% and hit only nine of 35 three-pointers. The Red
Men stayed within ten points most of the game, but in the second half they went
cold from beyond the arc, hitting only three of 18 three point attempts.

“[The three point shot] is what Calvin gives you,” said Carthage coach
Bosko Djurikovic. “My problem is not with the 35 attempts, but with the nine
makes. Last year at [Carthage], we hit those shots.”

“[Carthage] was looking to spread the floor and they had a little quickness
advantage and could penetrate,” said Coach Kevin Vande Streek. “We needed
to do a little better job of stopping that.

We made it a little harder for them [to hit the three near the end of the
game], and they weren’t quite as open. They probably just missed a few, but
even if you’re hitting 33% that’s still a lot of misses.”

Guards Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls Christian) and Derek Griffin (Muskegon CC)
each added 16 points and both have scored in double figures in all five games
this season.

“I thought we did a really nice job with the penetration from the top,”
said. “Maybe we wore them down, we certainly had size advantage and kept
trying to pound it inside and stay after it on the board. We had a really nice
last ten minutes.”

Calvin (4-1) was also helped in the post from Brent Schuster (Denver
Christian) and Josh Engelsma (Covenant Christian). Shuster, along with
Veldhouse, led the Knights with seven rebounds and added seven points. Engelsma
had six rebounds and six points. Calvin out-rebounded its opponent for just the
second time this season, posting a 43-35 rebound advantage. Nine Knights
grabbed three or more rebounds.

“Our young sophomore post guys really did a nice job tonight,” said Vande
Streek. “They struggled last weekend. Some of that is experience, some of
that’s confidence, but if we want to be the best team we can be, we need to
keep going to those guys.”

Calvin was also helped from an 83.3 free throw percentage, hitting 20 of 24
from the charity stripe. Mantel and Griffin each went four for four from the
line.

Calvin also hit seven of seventeen three-pointers, including six of 11 from
beyond the arc in the first half. Veldhouse and Griffin each hit two of five,
while Mantel, Schuster and Matt Veltema (Calvin Christian) also chipped in with
a three-pointer. Veltema had seven points on the night. Tyler Zoerhof (Holland
Christian) led Calvin dishing out six assists.

Fueled by those six three pointers in the first half, Calvin led early.
Carthage stormed back on a 10-1 run after Calvin’s led by 12, its largest of
the half. Mantel, who had 11 of his 19 points in the first half, answered,
blocking a Carthage shot and scoring four points in the final minute to end the
run and put the Knights up 39-30 at the half.

The Red Men got to within one point with 12:28 remaining in the game thanks to
Trey Bowens six points in the opening minutes of the second half. But hitting
only three shots from beyond the arc in the second half, Carthage couldn’t
recover from the 13-2 Calvin run that followed.

Bowens led all scorers with 26 points on 11 of 22 shooting and hit four of 12
from three- point range. Steve Djurickovic was the other Red Man in double
figures adding 14 points. Nine players scored for Carthage. Carthage didn’t
get its first free throw attempt until less than ten minutes remained in the
game.

Calvin has now won three of the four meetings with Carthage. Calvin advances
to 4-1 on the season and will face Wheaton College tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the
Fieldhouse. Wheaton fell to Hope in the early game tonight.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Wheaton 59, Calvin 52
(written by Colin McWhertor ’08)

Holland, MI - The Calvin College women's basketball team suffered its first
defeat of the season Friday evening in a 59-52 loss to Wheaton College. The
game was played at Hope College's Devos Field House as part of the MIAA-CCIW
Challenge. Calvin, ranked second in the latest USA Today/ESPN poll and sixth
in the D3Hoops.com poll, was unable to gain any rhythm offensively as a young
Wheaton team stifled their offense and controlled the game offensively.

Despite poor shooting Calvin was able to stay in the game throughout as they
took a lead shortly before halftime only to see the Thunder enter the break
with a 30-29 lead over the Knights.

Calvin's shooting went completely cold in the 2nd half though and the Knights
quickly fell behind Wheaton. The Knights were able to stay within striking
distance due to a strong free-throw shooting percentage as the team went 18-22
from the charity stripe. Included in the strong showing from the line was
junior forward Marcia Harris (GR Christian) making nine out of ten free throws.
 But Calvin could not keep up with Wheaton as the game dragged on and when
Wheaton's Lynnea Kvan hit a three-pointer to make the score 49-42, stunting a
small Knight rally, Calvin could not regroup again.

"We just gave up too many points," said Calvin coach John Ross. "We aren't
going to win that much if we give up close to 60 points, we can't do that."

Calvin shot 30.8 percent from the field, including a dismal 23.1 percent in
the second half while Wheaton was able to manage shooting 40 percent from the
field for the game. Calvin also struggled from behind the three-point line as
the Knights went 2-16 from beyond the arc for a 12.5 percentage.

"This was a three-point shooting game and we didn't shoot well," said Ross.
"If we struggle there we are going to have a hard time, especially if we are
giving up a lot points."

Calvin was led in scoring by sophomore forward Brook VanEck (Lowell), who
poured in 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her first career double-double.
 Eight of VanEck's rebounds came on the offensive end, aiding her superb 7-10
performance from the field.

"Brook has really played well lately," said Ross. "We challenged her and in
the second half of the Kalamazoo game (Tuesday) and today she responded well
and started controlling the paint for us."

Harris finished with 13 points and nine rebounds while junior guards Kelly
Trewhella (Rockford) and Kristi Brummel (South Christian) each contributed six
points apiece. Brummel was the only Calvin player to connect on a three-point
attempt as she hit two of her five tries.

Wheaton junior Kathleen Fidelia led all players in scoring by collecting 19
points to go with seven rebounds. Fidelia was also 9-9 from the free-throw
line.

Calvin is now 4-1 on the season while Wheaton improves to 5-1 on the year.

The MIAA-CCIW Challenge continues Saturday in Holland as Calvin will face
Carthage College in an afternoon game scheduled for 1:00pm. Wheaton will take
on host Hope College at 3:00pm.

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING

YPSILANTI - The Calvin men’s and women’s swim teams were in action on
Friday night on day one of the Eastern Michigan Invitational and came up with a
handful of solid performances.

On the women’s side, junior Cara VanWoerkom (Calvin Christian HS) had a
season-best time of 53.12 to place fifth in the 100 freestyle. Sophomore Emily
Roberts (Dekalb, IL) also had a season-best time of 2:14.87 to finish 13th in
the 200 butterfly. Calvin’s 400 freestyle relay team of VanWoerkom, senior
Stephanie Duncan (Long Grove, IL), junior Julie Wolfe (Westerville, OH) and
sophomore Laura Price (Warren, PA) took ninth with a time of 3:42.06. Freshman
Caitlin Alexander (Holland Christian HS) also had a season-best time of 2:13.99
to finish 12th in the 200 backstroke.

In the men’s competition, junior Keith Conrad (Wheaton, IL) was sixth in the
1,650 freestyle (17:12.07) while senior Joe Gluvers (Rocklin, CA) had a big
swim in the 200 backstroke, finishing ninth in a time of 2:00.03. Calvin’s
400 freestyle relay team of sophomore Kurt VanAllsburg (Grand Rapids Christian
HS), Gluvers, sophomore Jon Herrema (Grand Rapids Christian HS) and senior John
Boumgarden (Naperville, IL) took ninth with a time of 3:19.41.

Full results from Friday’s competition can be found on-line at:
http://www.emueagles.com/sports/mswim/2007/Invite_1_Results.htm

Action continues on Saturday at 10:00 a.m.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Dec 1 00:12:33 2007