CSR (Basketball Teams Pick Up Saturday Victories At Fieldhouse)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 15, 2007

Basketball Teams Claim Saturday Victories at Calvin Fieldhouse

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 73, Alma 41
(written by Colin McWhertor ’08)

It was good to be home Saturday afternoon for the Calvin women's basketball
team. The Knights used hot-shooting and a big run to defeat the Scots of Alma
College 73-41 in the team's first home game of the season. Calvin has now won
two straight games since dropping consecutive games in the CCIW-MIAA Challenge
two weeks ago. Calvin head coach John Ross said playing at home seemed to
relax his team.

"I thought they were happy to play at home," he said about his team. "They
just finished exams this week and it was nice to finally have a home game and
get a win against a good Alma team."

Although the game was closely contested for much of the first half, Calvin was
able to explode late in the first 20 minutes to pull away from Alma. The
Knights led 24-18 with 5:32 left in the first half and proceeded to run-off 25
straight points to pull away from the Scots and take a lead of 49-18. The run
lasted early into the 2nd half until Alma was able to score a minute into the
final 20 minutes. Ross said it was the defensive pressure and crisp passing
that let his team make the run.

"There was about a 10-minute stretch that we started getting after it
defensively," he said. "I thought our defense really pushed our tempo of play.
 And on offense we were able to make great entry passes and kick it out to open
players who hit some shots."

Many of the entry passes that Ross spoke about went to junior forward Marcia
Harris (GR Christian), who was on fire in the first half, scoring 19 points of
her team high 21 for the game. Harris was 7-10 from the field for the game and
also was 7-11 from the free-throw line.

"It was good to see Marcia play so well," said Ross. "We were able to get her
the ball a lot and she did well in the paint. But it was everyone working to
get the ball to her and then ht the open shots when she was double-teamed that
made the difference."

Calvin shot 50 percent from the field for the game including a blistering 65.4
percent in the first half. The Knights also connected on 41.2 percent of their
three-point attempts, easily a high for the season. Calvin held Alma to only
25.8 percent field goal shooting, including only 15.4 percent from three-point
range.

The Knights received a very balanced scoring attack from 10 different players.
 Two other players reached double figures in scoring as junior shooting guard
Kristi Brummel (GR South Christian) and sophomore forward Brook VanEck (Lowell)
each scored 10 points. Other players chipping in to the effort included
sophomore point guard Kelly Bennett (Williamston) with seven points, junior
shooting guard Marissa Walker (Cedar Springs) with six points, and freshman
guard Amber Benthem (McBain) also with six points.

Calvin improves to 6-2 (3-0 MIAA) with the win while Alma drops to 3-5 (1-1
MIAA) on the young season.

The Knights have one more game before breaking for the holiday. They will
host Albion College in another MIAA match on Wednesday evening starting at
7:30pm at the Calvin Fieldhouse.

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 80, Trinity Christian 47
(Written by Drew DeVries’ 08)

 Calvin heads into Christmas break with a convincing win over non-conference
opponent Trinity Christian College. The only time the Knights trailed in this
one was within the first minute of play. But after junior Caleb Veldhouse
(Sioux Falls, SD/Sioux Falls Chr.) opened up Calvin's scoring with five quick
points, Veldhouse and his teammates never trailed again.

Behind an up-tempo pace by the Knights in which Veldhouse rattled off 19 first
half points, Calvin built a twelve point lead by the end of the half. Calvin
got plenty of intensity and contribution from its starters as well as its
bench.

"I was really encouraged by our play and energy today," said Calvin head coach
Kevin Vande Streek. "Usually we get really tired around exam time but I thought
we were a lot better. We had been focusing on three things this week: talking
on defense, fast breaks and transitions, and moving the ball around. I thought
we did a great job with all of those things."

Sophomore Josh Engelsma (Walker/Covenant Christian) was one of those players
who benefited from what they had been working on. Engelsma finished with 12
points and 7 rebounds. "When we are able to move the ball around, it has helped
Josh," said Vande Streek. "He moves really well and he has that quick jump
hook. He plays with lots of passion and always plays hard."

Junior Dustin Smith (Hamilton/Hamilton) and sophomore Matt Veltema
(Grandville/Calvin Christian) also did a great job with distributing the ball
and doing the little things that help a team win. "Dustin did a nice job. He
made a couple shots and when you do that, you get more confident. He did a
great job getting his teammates the ball," said Vande Streek.

But the story of the afternoon might have come with an early second half fast
break lay-up by Veldhouse. With the lay-up, Veldhouse became the 18th player in
Calvin College history to tally 1,000 career points. "He's a great player,"
said Vande Streek. "He burst onto the scene as a freshman and it got tougher
for him at times last year. But he continues to work so hard in the summer and
he has said he's in the best shape of his career. His experience serves to his
benefit as he is playing very well."

Veldhouse finished the game leading all scorers with 28 points.

The Knights also did a great job protecting the ball and crashing the boards.
Calvin finished with only 11 turnovers surpassing its goal of having 12 a game.
"To reach our turnover goal and to run as much as we did is very good." said
Vande Streek.

On the rebounding side, the Knights held a 45-27 advantage over Trinity which
was an encouraging sign to Coach Vande Streek.

Senior Derek Griffin (Whitehall/Whitehall) also finished in double digits for
the Knights with 10 points. Kurt Gruppen led Trinity with 12 points.

The Knights (5-3) will now break for a week for Christmas and return to action
December 28 and 29 in New Jersey for a four team tournament. Calvin will face
Keene State in the first game. But the Knights will also get some time to have
fun and grow as a team.

"We're excited to go to the tournament," said Vande Streek. "We're going to do
some touristy things downtown in New York City and also play some games. I'm
looking forward to it."

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Dec 15 17:51:42 2007