CSR (Men's Basketball Defeats Kalamazoo/Women's Basketball Falls to Saint Mary's in OT)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR JAN. 28, 2009

Men's Basketball Defeats Kalamazoo;
Women's Basketball Falls in OT Against Saint Mary's

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 74, Kalamazoo 60

By Chaz Amidon

GRAND RAPIDS – Matt Veltema has been even more productive in Calvin’s
starting lineup than he has off the bench, but he claims that nothing has
changed since last week. Nothing, except for a few more open shots.

After pouring in a career-best 21 points in a win over Albion on Saturday,
Veltema set a new personal record by totaling 23 points in the Knights’ 74-60
win over Kalamazoo on Wednesday, jumpstarting a fresh win streak for a Calvin
team that dropped its previous content at Van Noord Arena.

“I’m just trying to knock down the open shots that I get,” said Veltema.
“I’m trying to do the best that I can and we’re getting some wins, which
is all that matters.”

During the Knights’ current two-game stretch, Veltema has shot 15-of-25 (60
percent) from the floor, including 6-of-10 (60 percent) from 3-point range.

A leg injury to Caleb Veldhouse against Olivet last Wednesday incited coach
Kevin Vande Streek to insert Veltema into his starting five, where the junior
sharpshooter has averaged 22 points-per-game and upped his season average to
12.6 – the third-best mark on the team.

“You take Caleb out of the lineup…you take 15 shots out of the lineup, and
that’s going to get spread around to some different guys,” said Vande
Streek. “Matt certainly has done a nice job here these last couple games.”

Dustin Smith scored 10 points and hauled in 12 boards, while Trent Salo
notched a Calvin career-high 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting as the Knights built
a 30-point lead in the second half against the last-place Hornets (1-6, 5-12).

Kalamazoo shot just 20 percent from the field in the first half, gathering
only 15 points against a Calvin team that is allowing 68.1 points-per-game to
opponents. Only Albion has a better scoring defense (67.4 per-game).

“Kalamazoo struggled to make some shots, but I thought we played really well
defensively,” said Vande Streek. “I think we have a number (of games) –
seven, eight games in a row.”

Calvin used a pair of 9-0 runs in the second half to establish a 47-21 lead
with 13:20 remaining.

Veltema engineered an 8-0 run himself minutes later, drilling a fadeaway
17-footer in between a pair of deep 3-pointers. He exited the game with 5:45
left and after accumulating 27 minutes of playing time throughout the night.

“It’s just one of those grooves I guess, but I think we’re just finding
the open guy,” said Veltema. “We’ve been trying to get that inside-out
game going, so it starts in the post.”

John Mantel, Calvin’s leading scorer, was limited to five points on 2-of-8
shooting. He failed to score any points in Calvin’s win over Alma back on
Jan. 10, but he exited less than a minute into the game after tweaking an
ankle.

Mantel was one of five Knights to reel in five or more rebounds. He and Tyler
Zoerfhof each had six, while Danny Rodts and Tim Katt grabbed five apiece.

Calvin outrebounded the Hornets 48-35, and has now owned the battle of the
boards in each of its 11 wins this season.

“I think (rebounding) is something we always emphasize,” said Vande
Streek. “One of our team goals is to lead the league in rebound margin. We
moved Mike Zwier into the (starting) lineup and since then it’s just been
contagious. They have a real sense of pride with rebounding now. It’s put us
in good shape.”

The Knights will now travel to Angola, Ind. on Saturday to take on Trine (1-6,
5-13). Calvin defeated the Thunder 77-69 at the opener of the Van Noord Arena
back on Jan. 7.

OTHER MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY

Albion 73, Alma 59
Hope 85, Trine 69
Olivet 66, Adrian 63

MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-28-09 GAMES

Calvin 6-1
Hope 6-1
Albion 4-3
Olivet 4-3
Adrian 3-4
Alma 3-4
Kalamazoo 1-5
Trine 1-5

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Saint Mary’s 72, Calvin 68 (OT)

By Bruce Van Baren (Calvin Sports Information Office Student Assistant)

Sarah Partridge (East Lansing HS) hit a three-pointer with 1.4 seconds
remaining to force overtime against first-place Saint Mary’s Wednesday night
at VanNoord Arena, but the Knights fell to the Belles 72-68 in overtime.

We should have (won) it,” coach John Ross said. “We were right there in
overtime. A win would have been huge because we feel like we’re one of the
top teams in the league. We needed that lift.”

Saint Mary’s snapped Calvin’s three game winning streak. The Knights
(10-7, 5-5 MIAA) drop back to .500 in the MIAA. The Belles (11-7, 8-1 MIAA)
remain in first place in the MIAA. Saint Mary’s beat Hope at Angela Athletic
Facility and suffered its only loss to Albion.

“It was disappointing because we could have and probably should have won,”
Sarah Partridge said. “It would have been a really good win for us.”

Calvin lost to Saint Mary’s for the second time this season and just the
second time in the history of the 31 game series that dates back to the
1990-1991 season. Saint Mary’s broke the 29 game losing streak to the Knights
with a 79-74 win at Angela Athletic Facility on December 6.

“We played a hundred times better than we did the last time we played
them,” Partridge said. “It’s encouraging to see that we are improving,
but it is also disappointing to see that we lost it at the end.”

Calvin played in its fourth overtime game of the season. Three of the
Knights’ four games inside VanNoord Arena have gone to overtime. Calvin is
2-2 in overtime games and 2-1 in overtime games played inside VanNoord Arena.

“We’re playing in a lot of pressure situations and a lot of tight
games,” Ross said. “Hopefully that will pay off later this season in the
(MIAA tournament).”

Calvin committed 26 turnovers and gave up 20 offensive rebounds. The Knights
shot 34.2 percent from the field and 9 of 30 from three-point range.

“Turnovers kill you,” Ross said. “We just can’t turn the ball over as
many times as we did. We need to be just a little quicker on our decisions
offensively and defensively we didn’t quite guard them as well as we should
have.”

 Calvin’s full-court press held Saint Mary’s league best offense well
below its 76.8 points-per-game average. The Belles shot 39.5% and were 0 of 11
from beyond the arc.

“We were trying to get our hands on a lot of balls to see if we can create
havoc,” Ross said.

The Knights extended a 32-31 halftime lead to a 39-33 lead, Calvin’s largest
of the game, after Courtney Kurnz (St. Johns HS) hit a three-pointer with 17:53
left in the game. Calvin went 3 of 14 from three-point range in the first half,
but hit six of 16 from beyond the arc in the second half.

Calvin led most of the second half, but Anna Kammrath gave the Belles a 52-51
lead with 7:35 remaining. The Belles built the lead to seven points after
layups by Liz Wade and Erin Newsom.

Kristi Brummel (South Christian) hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to
four. Brummel stole the ensuing inbound pass to set up Kurncz’s jumper that
cut the Saint Mary’s lead to 62-60 with 2:37 remaining. Newsom hit one of two
free throws to put the Belles up 63-60.

Partridge, who is a 38-percent three-point shooter, hit the game tying triple
just before the buzzer. Partridge also hit a game tying three-pointer against
Adrian to force overtime on January 17 and against Adrian a year ago in the
Knights’ finale in the Fieldhouse.

 “Sarah is not afraid to put up shots in a pressure situation,” Ross said.
“It takes a special kind of person to put up those kinds of shots.”

Brooke Van Eck (Lowell HS) led Calvin with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Kurncz
added 11 points, one shy of her career high, while Partridge and Jill Thomas
(West Catholic) each scored 10 points. Thomas’s double-digit effort was a
career high.

Patsy Mahoney, Newsom, Kammrath and Kelley Murphy each scored a game-high 13
points. Maggie Ronan was the fifth Belle in double figures with 12 points.

“The positive side (of the loss) is that I really like our freshman,” Ross
said. “Courtney (Kurncz) is going to be a very good player and Jill Thomas
had a really, really good game. That was good to see.”

OTHER MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY

Trine 62, Kalamazoo 59
Adrian 70, Albion 62
Hope 79, Alma 42

MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-28-09 GAMES

Hope 9-1
Saint Mary’s 9-1
Adrian 6-4
Albion 5-5
Trine 5-5
Alma 3-6
Olivet 2-7
Kalamazoo 0-10

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Jan 29 00:52:28 2009