CSR (Men's Basketball Stretches Win Streak to Three With Win Over Alma)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB. 7, 2008

Men's Basketball Stretches Win Streak to Three With Win Over Alma

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 74, Alma 60
(written by Drew DeVries ’08)

GRAND RAPIDS - Calvin kept its win streak alive against Alma this evening with
a 74-60 victory at the Calvin Fieldhouse. The Knights have won the last 19
meetings against the Scots and after a sluggish start this evening, Calvin
found enough offense along with good defense in an all around team effort to
win its third conference game at home this season. Calvin (12-7 overall, 7-2
MIAA) remains tied for second in the league with Albion one game behind Hope.

"Alma plays hard," said Calvin head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "They are a
quick team which makes it hard to guard them and we had our stretches without
scoring that they were able to cut into the lead. But I was happy with our
mental approach because there were a lot of reasons we could have been flat
tonight."

Calvin did open the game slowly. The Knights had only five points seven
minutes into the first half when Alma led 13-5. After a timeout, Calvin came to
life thanks to John Mantel (Chelsea/Chelsea) who scored the first seven points
of a 16-2 run over the next five minutes to build a 21-15 lead. Calvin's
defense held Alma to nearly five minutes without scoring and at the half led
31-22.

The Knights then began the second half scoring seven quick points en route to
a 14-2 run in the first four minutes behind eight points by Derek Griffin
(Whitehall/Whitehall). Calvin led 45-24 and hovered around a 20 point lead for
most of the half.

Vande Streek was happy to see Mantel step it up on defense while also having a
nice game offensively. "Mantel did a really nice job defensively," he said. "He
did a nice job with his defensive stance and playing on the perimeter. He got
about every rebound on both sides of the ball early on which was great to see.
For us to keep getting better, each player needs to get better. Mantel has done
that and he was ready to go tonight."

Mantel finished with the first double-double of his career scoring 10 points
to go along with 10 rebounds.

Griffin led the Knights in scoring with 12 points and also played the type of
game Vande Streek could be proud of. "Derek had a nice game as he was able to
hit some shots in the second half," he said. "He made a lot of plays which was
fun to see. He's just a really good athlete who is so quick and used his
quickness to our advantage."

Along with Griffin and Mantel, three other players for the Knights finished in
double figures for one of Calvin's most balanced scoring attacks this season.
Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls, SD/Sioux Falls Christian), Dustin Smith
(Hamilton/Hamilton), and Josh Engelsma (Walker/Covenant Christian) all scored
11 points apiece.

With only five games remaining in the regular season, Calvin finds itself only
one game behind league leading Hope College. "It's nice to be in charge of what
you're doing," said Vande Streek. "It's not going to be easy but we're in
striking distance. That's a good thing for us and a good motivator for us to
keep getting better."

Calvin will play host to Adrian on Saturday for its final Homecoming game at
the Fieldhouse. The game is slated to begin at 3:00p.m.

For a column written by Calvin sports information student assistant Bruce
VanBaren on Thursday’s game and a feature on Calvin junior Caleb Veldhouse,
please visit the Calvin web site at:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/releases/2007_08/VeldhouseMovingUpCharts.htm

OTHER MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES THURSDAY
Tri-State 63, Adrian 61
Hope 86, Olivet 58
Albion 80, Kalamazoo 54

MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-7-08 GAMES
Hope 8-1
Albion 7-2
Calvin 7-2
Tri-State 5-4
Adrian 4-5
Alma 2-7
Kalamazoo 2-7
Olivet 1-8

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Feb 7 23:25:13 2008