CSR (Men's Basketball Defeats Albion/Women's Basketball Defeats Kalamazoo)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR JAN. 24, 2008 (PART ONE)

Men's Basketball Digs Down Deep For Win at Albion;
Women's Basketball Rolls to Third Straight Victory;

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 79, Albion 73

ALBION – The Calvin men’s basketball team dug down deep for a key
conference victory on the road Saturday afternoon, defeating Albion 79-73 at
Kresge Gymnasium to remain tied for first place in the MIAA standings with
Hope.

The victory also allowed Calvin men’s basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek to
become the all-time leader in coaching victories as he boosted his Calvin
coaching record to 255-101 to move past Ed Douma who recorded 254 victories at
Calvin from 1984-to-1996.

“I could not be more proud of a team than I am today,” said Vande Streek.
“We’ve continued to face adversity this season and today, we continued to
respond to adversity in a positive fashion. This was a great team victory.”

Calvin was forced to play Saturday’s game without senior sharpshooting guard
Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls, SD) who was sidelined with an injury.

Calvin was able to withstand the absence of Veldhouse behind the
inside-outside tandem of juniors John Mantel (Chelsea HS) and Matt Veltema
(Calvin Christian HS) as Mantel poured in 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds
while Veltema scored a career-high 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting including
3-of-4 from behind the three-point arc. Mantel’s output marked his fifth
double-double of the season including his third double-double in the last four
games.

Senior Dustin Smith (Hamilton HS) also played a key role in the win with 13
points on 5-of-8 shooting while grabbing five rebounds.

“We knew going in that we would be shorthanded but I told the team in the
locker room before the game that we had the players to win this game,” said
Vande Streek. “One of our goals for this game was to take the ball to the
basket and get to the free throw line. I thought we did an excellent job of
accomplishing that goal.”

Calvin went to the free throw line 35 times and connected on 24 attempts,
outscoring Albion at the charity stripe by 10 points as the Britons were
14-of-15 at the stripe.

Albion (8-8 overall, 3-3 MIAA) led 60-55 at the midpoint of the second half on
Saturday but Calvin responded with nine unanswered points to build a 64-60
lead.

Calvin (10-6 overall, 5-1 MIAA) never trailed again although Albion was able
to cut the deficit to one point at 68-67 with 4:41 left. Calvin senior Tyler
Zoerhof (Holland Christian HS) responded with a clutch three-pointer to give
Calvin a four-point cushion at 71-67 moments later however and the Knights
proceeded to sink eight free throws inside the final 3:20 to clinch the win.

Zoerhof added seven points and three rebounds for the Knights while senior
Mike Zwier (Tri-unity Christian HS) had six points and six rebounds.

Andrew Holms led Albion with 21 points while J.C. Cruse had 16 points for the
Britons.

Calvin returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Kalamazoo at 8:00 p.m.
inside the Van Noord Arena.

OTHER MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES SATURDAY

Hope 81, Adrian 77
Alma 69, Olivet 66
Trine 74, Kalamazoo 69

MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-24-09

Calvin 5-1
Hope 5-1
Adrian 3-3
Albion 3-3
Alma 3-3
Olivet 3-3
Kalamazoo 1-5
Trine 1-5

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 66, Kalamazoo 40

By Chaz Amidon

GRAND RAPIDS – The Knights began their 2008-09 season by totaling only 10
3-pointers in their first three games.

Now, with a newfound proficiency from the perimeter, Calvin is getting used to
drilling around 10 long balls per contest.

Unleashing a torrent of 3-pointers in the opening minutes on Saturday, the
Knights jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead against Kalamazoo and would not slow
down, defeating the last-place Hornets 66-40.

Kacy Cryderman poured in a season-high 12 points, Amber Benthem added nine,
and Calvin shot 10-of-31 from the outside against winless Kalamazoo (0-9,
0-15).

“We’re finally getting that fire and that spark that we had at the
beginning (of the year),” said Cryderman. “I just feel like all of us are
realizing, ‘Hey, we need to get out there and get this done.’”

Benthem, Sarah Partridge and Kristi Brummel each dialed in 3-pointers –
within the first minute of the game – to catalyze a Knights’ perimeter game
that sunk 14 3s in an 81-63 win over Olivet on Wednesday.

Calvin has now amassed 33 3-pointers during its current three-game win streak,
its longest since opening the season with a 5-0 record.

“We’re just playing together really well,” said Benthem. “The 3s are
coming and we’re working it around together. We’re feeling relaxed out
there.”

Benthem began the game by nailing her first three attempts from beyond the
arc, tallying all nine of her points before halftime. Leah Mattson and Jill
Thomas each fired in 3-pointers in the final four minutes before the break,
where the Knights led 36-18.

Calvin then broke open a devastating 11-0 run to start the second half.
Cryderman ignited the run with back-to-back lay-ins, then gave the Knights a
42-18 lead with a put back later in the stretch.

“I felt good about myself out there,” said Cryderman, who has been
sidelined with knee injuries the past two seasons. “Coming back from my
injury, it’s beginning to start to feel more natural.”

The Knights forced Kalamazoo into committing 39 turnovers – it was the
Hornets’ third straight 30-plus turnover outing.

Calvin applied full-court pressure throughout the first half, inducing nine
Kalamazoo turnovers within the first four minutes.

“We were working a lot on our press lately…we wanted to tire them out right
away,” said Benthem. “Our bench is so deep we could just keep it going.”

The Hornets, who had only seven active players on their roster, were led by a
12-point, 10-rebound performance by Nyemade Cooper, the MIAA’s leading scorer
(17.4 ppg). Michelle Maiuri also pumped in a double-double, scoring 11 points
while hauling in a game-high 13 rebounds.

Calvin will now host first-place Saint Mary’s on Wednesday and will have a
chance to even up the regular season series with the Belles, who picked up a
79-74 win over the Knights when they traveled to Notre Dame, Ind., back on Dec.
6.

OTHER MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES ON SATURDAY

Saint Mary’s 69, Trine 58
Hope 67, Albion 46
Adrian 82, Olivet 53

MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-24-09 GAMES

Hope 8-1
Saint Mary’s 8-1
Albion 5-4
Adrian 5-4
Calvin 5-4
Trine 4-5
Alma 3-5
Olivet 2-7
Kalamazoo 0-9

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Jan 24 21:20:18 2009