CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR JAN. 14, 2009
Men's Basketball Rolls To Win at Adrian - Sets Up Saturday Showdown at Hope;
Women's Basketball Team Clipped By Hope - To Host Adrian Saturday
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 87, Adrian 56
ADRIAN -- With a share of first place on the line in the MIAA standings,
Calvin rose to the occasion with an 87-56 victory over the host Adrian Bulldogs
Wednesday night. The Calvin victory sets up a first place showdown on Saturday
at Hope as the two storied rivals both head into the contest at 3-0 in league
play, one game ahead of 2-1 Adrian.
Wednesday's victory also stretched Calvin's win streak to five games as the
Knights improved to 8-5 overall.
Calvin jumped out to a quick start, taking a 9-3 lead four minutes into the
contest. The lead later ballooned to 17 points with Calvin eventually settling
for a 37-22 halftime lead. Calvin shot 44.4 percent in the first half while
limiting Adrian to 36.0 percent field goal shooting.
Calvin upped the pace in the second half, shooting 61.5 percent from the floor
with Adrian (5-8 overall) never getting closer than 14 points over the final 20
minutes of play.
"I could not have asked for more than what this team gave tonight," said
Calvin men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek after the game. "I thought our
defense and intensity was terrific and I also thought we did an excellent job
at hitting the glass."
Calvin outrebounded Adrian 43-25 with junior center John Mantel (Chelsea HS)
leading the way 13 boards to go with 12 points as he notched his third
double-double of the season including the fourth of his career. Senior guard
Dustin Smith (Hamilton HS) led the Knights in scoring with 18 points on 9-of-12
shooting. Smith and Mantel were part of a group of five Calvin players that
reached double digits in scoring as senior Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls, SD)
and junior Matt Veltema (Calvin Christian HS) had 12 points apiece while senior
Tim Katt (Brookfield, WI) had 10 points.
Calvin's bench played a key role in the win, outscoring Adrian's bench 33-14.
Senior Mike Zwier (Tri-unity Christian HS) added six and points and three
assists with sophomore Danny Rodts (Niles HS) also chipping in with six points
and a pair of steals. Rodts drew the defensive assignment of guarding Adrian
standout Desmond Young. Young finished with a game-high 26 points but scored
just two in the first half.
"Mike Zwier brings a great deal of intensity to our team on defense and in the
rebounding department," said Vande Streek. "I also thought Danny Rodts did a
great job on defense against Desmond Young. Mike and Danny are doing a lot of
the little things right now that are making our team click."
Calvin will now prepare for the 170th meeting against rival Hope on Saturday
at Hope's DeVos Fieldhouse with the opening tip set for 3:00 p.m. Hope leads
the all-time series 86-83 and has won the last four meetings against the
Knights including all three meetings a year ago.
OTHER MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Albion 73, Olivet 71
Alma 77, Trine 65
Hope 80, Kalamazoo 71
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-14-09 GAMES
Calvin 3-0
Hope 3-0
Adrian 2-1
Albion 1-2
Alma 1-2
Kalamazoo 1-2
Olivet 1-2
Trine 0-3
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Hope 73, Calvin 49
(written by Bruce VanBaren)
Hope used a quick start and stifling defense to cruise past Calvin 73-49
Wednesday night at DeVos Fieldhouse. The Flying Dutch, ranked ninth in the
latest d3hoops.com poll, held the Knights’ starters to eight points and
forced 32 turnovers to notch their fourth straight win over Calvin.
“Hope stepped up and shut them down,” coach John Ross said. “They always
do a really good job defensively. We’ve got to do a better job being tough
and have to do a better job taking care of the ball.”
Calvin never led and for much of the first half the Knights found turnovers
were easier to come by than points. Calvin was held to 22 points in the first
half, but recorded 20 turnovers. The Knights shot just 34-percent and were 4 of
12 from three-point range.
“We’re just not executing,” Ross said. “We’ve had a tough time
getting off to a good start here lately and you can’t do it against one of
the best teams in the country. We did the same thing at (third-ranked)
Wisconsin-Whitewater (and we lost).”
After being named the MIAA player of the week, Hope’s Jenny Cowen sparked a
14-4 run to start the game, scoring ten of Hope’s first 14 points. Cowen, who
averages 11.6 points-per-game, led all scorers with 20 points, including 16 in
the first half, on 5 of 8 shooting and 3 of 5 shooting from beyond the arc.
Philana Greene was the only other player in double figures with 12 points.
“We tried a zone defense against them,” Ross said. “The problem with it
was that I think they’ve just had too much practice against a zone this year.
Too many teams have tried it against them and they looked a lot more
comfortable against the zone tonight than they have been.”
Hope (11-1, 5-1 MIAA) remains half a game out of first place after Saint
Mary’s, who beat both Hope and Calvin, fell to Albion 77-72 Wednesday
night. Calvin (7-6, 2-4 MIAA) falls to seventh place in the MIAA, tied with
Olivet and ahead of Kalamazoo.
“It’s not like our kids aren’t trying,” Ross said. “I mean we’re
trying and right now we’re just not gelling. But hopefully there will be a
point when we are gelling and it will be a lot more fun to watch.”
Calvin trailed by as many as 32 points with 11:36 to play in the second half.
But the Knights were led by four bench players. Courtney Kurncz totaled a
team-high seven points, while Leah Mattson, Marissa Walker and Emily
Schrotenboer each had six points.
“You have to give our kids off the bench credit for hanging in there and
scoring,” Ross said. “But we have to find a way to get off to a good
start.”
Over the last four games, Calvin has gotten off to extremely bumpy starts,
trailing 12-0 in the opening two minutes against fourth-ranked
Wisconsin-Whitewater on December 29, trailing Alma 11-3 through the opening
minutes of its January 3 game against the Scots, falling into an 11-2 hole
early against Trine last Wednesday and falling behind 14-4 early tonight
against Hope.
Since beginning the season 5-0, Calvin has lost six of its last eight games
with the only wins coming against Clark College and against Trine in last
Wednesday’s inaugural game at VanNoord Arena.
The Knights had a week break before Wednesday’s game against Hope. The
Knights will host Adrian at 3 p.m. Saturday at VanNoord Arena.
OTHER MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Adrian 57, Alma 50
Trine 51, Olivet 34
Albion 77, Saint Mary's 72
MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-14-09 GAMES
Saint Mary's 6-1
Hope 5-1
Adrian 4-2
Alma 3-3
Albion 3-3
Trine 3-4
Calvin 2-4
Olivet 2-4
Kalamazoo 0-6
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Wed Jan 14 23:37:04 2009
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