CSR (Calvin Basketball Teams Pick Up Conference Victories Wednesday Night)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR JANUARY 23, 2008

Hot Shooting Lifts Men's Basketball Team To Win at Kalamazoo;
Women's Basketball Team Holds On For Win over Saint Mary's

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 95, Kalamazoo 81

KALAMAZOO -- With its offense firing on all cylinders, Calvin generated a
95-81 victory at Kalamazoo Wednesday evening to remain tied for second place in
the MIAA standings with Tri-State, one game behind league-leading Hope. Calvin
will host rival Hope (5-0 MIAA) on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at the Calvin
Fieldhouse in the 167th meeting between the two teams. Heading into Saturday's
contest, the rivalry is tied up 83-83 in all-time victories between the two
teams.

Calvin (9-6 overall, 4-1 MIAA) shot 53.2 percent (33 of 62) from the field
against the Hornets including 52.0 percent (13 of 25) from three-point range as
the Knights hit a season scoring high. Five Calvin players notched
double-digits in scoring with junior Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls, SD) and
sophomore John Mantel (Chelsea HS) scoring 18 points apiece while senior Derek
Griffin (Whitehall HS) and junior Dustin Smith (Hamilton HS) had 16 points
apiece. Sophomore Matt Veltema (Calvin Christian HS) added 10 points off the
bench.

With his 18-point effort, Veldhouse moved past Jim Timmer Jr. and into 13th
place on the all-time Calvin scoring list, building his career total to 1,115
points.

"Any time you can pick up a win at Kalamazoo it's big," said Calvin men's
basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek after the game. "This is such a tough place
to play and it seems like every time we come down here, it's physically
draining so I'm proud of our guys for their effort tonight."

Calvin led 47-42 at halftime, shooting 51.5 percent from the field but also
allowing Kalamazoo (5-10 overall, 2-3 MIAA) to shoot 58.1 percent as the
Hornets met remained within striking distance.

"Our defensive effort wasn't where it needed to be in the first half," said
Vande Streek. "To our credit, we found the passion to turn up the defensive
intensity in the second half."

Calvin limited Kalamazoo to 42.9 percent field goal shooting in the second
half and built a 63-48 lead six minutes into the second half. Kalamazoo
answered back with an 18-9 scoring run to close to within six at 72-66 with
8:58 left on the clock. Calvin responded with a 12-2 run fueled by triples from
Griffin and Smith to take an 84-68 lead to put the game out of reach for the
Hornets.

"We faced a little adversity when Kalamazoo made its comeback run but I
thought we handled it well and responded," said Vande Streek. "We received
scoring support from a variety of guys tonight and that helped us stretch the
lead back out which was key."

Another key was the play off the bench of junior tri-captain Tim Katt
(Brookfield, WI) who scored seven points off the bench, hitting all three of
his field goal attempts along with his lone free throw toss. "Tim played one of
his best games of the year," said Vande Streek. "He hasn't complained about
coming off the bench and he really gave us a boost off the bench in a very
physical game. He deserves a lot of credit tonight."

Kalamazoo was led in defeat by Mat Kellogg who scored 16 points along with six
rebounds while Nate Orozco had 14 off the bench. Verelle Kirkwood added 12
points in a reserve role while starter Henry McCain had 10.

Calvin picked up 19 assists in the win with Smith leading the way with six
assists to go with his three steals. Junior Todd Koetsier (Calvin Christian HS)
also collected three steals while junior Tyler Zoerhof (Holland Christian HS)
had four points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

OTHER MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Albion 70, Adrian 61
Tri-State 58, Olivet 54
Hope 81, Alma 5

MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-23-08 GAMES

Hope 5-0
Calvin 4-1
Tri-State 4-1
Albion 3-2
Kalamazoo 2-3
Adrian 1-4
Alma 1-4
Olivet 0-5

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 66, Saint Mary's 62
(written by Colin McWhertor '08)

The Calvin women’s basketball recorded its third straight victory on
Wednesday night with a close 66-62 victory over St. Mary’s College. The win
over the Belles allowed the Knights to remain tied with Albion for second place
in the MIAA at 6-3 (10-6 overall) behind undefeated Hope College.

Calvin looked strong at the outset of the game as the Knights jumped out to a
24-14 lead in the first half after senior point guard Nikki Zimmerman (Traverse
City) followed up a three-point shot with a short jumper from the corner. The
Belles then took control and outscored the Knights 16-7 before halftime to
climb back to within one point at 31-30 at the half.

Calvin used an 11-2 run early in the second half to build a lead of 53-42, the
largest of the game, when freshman Amber Benthem (McBain) hit a three-pointer.
The Belles would not back down however and immediately went on an 11-1 run of
their own to climb back within one point again at 54-53. Junior Marcia Harris
(GR Christian) then scored five straight points to propel the Knights before
St. Mary’s used one last charge to get with 61-60 with 1:35 left. Calvin
held on for the victory as junior Sarah Partridge (East Lansing) and Harris hit
free throws in the final minute.

Calvin head coach John Ross was happy for the win, even with the up and down
performance. “We gave up two ten-point leads,” he said. “We don’t
want to do that, but at the same time we played hard and battled to get the
win. I thought a lot of players played well and St. Mary’s is a good
team.”

Calvin was led by Harris, who led all scorers with 23 points on 9-14 shooting.
With her 23-point effort, Harris past Pam Wubben and into ninth place on the
all-time scoring list, building her career total to 1,112 points. Partridge
finished with nine points and seven rebounds, best on the team, while both
Zimmerman and Benthem finished with seven points.

Calvin held St. Mary’s Alison Kessler, the MIAA’s leading scorer, to 20
points, after she had scored a school record 41 points in a win over Kalamazoo
a week ago.

“Alison Kessler is a very good player,” remarked Ross. “She didn’t
get 41 points so we are happy about that. I think with how beat up some of our
players are with injuries we did a good job containing her.” Kessler was one
of four Belles to reach double digits in scoring.

Calvin had another good shooting night as it shot 51 percent from the field,
including 40 percent from behind the three-point line. The Knights also had
more assists than turnovers for the third straight game, collecting 19 assists
and committing only 17 turnovers.

St. Mary’s (4-4 MIAA 8-8 overall) shot 37.5 percent, but 41.2 percent from
three-point distance. The Belles also out-rebounded the Knights 37-27.

Calvin is back in action on Saturday when it travels to Alma for an afternoon
match-up against the Scots. Tip-off time is 3:00pm.

OTHER MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Tri-State 78, Kalamazoo 66
Albion 76, Adrian 56
Hope 72, Alma 53

MIAA WOMEN”S BASKETBALL STANDINGS (through 1-23-08)

Hope 8-0
Albion 6-3
Calvin 6-3
Olivet 4-3
St. Mary’s 4-4
Adrian 3-5
Alma 2-5
Tri-State 2-6
K-Zoo 1-7

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Jan 23 23:30:16 2008