CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR JAN. 31, 2009 (PART ONE)
By Bruce Van Baren (Calvin Sports Information Student Assistant)
ANGOLA, IN -- Calvin knocked down clutch free throws to preserve an 82-80 win
at Trine in first game of the second round through the MIAA schedule. The
Knights won their third straight game to hold on to a share of first place in
the MIAA.
“It’s a feeling of relief,” coach Kevin Vande Streek said. “All game
long you’re anxious because you know it’s going to come down to the
end.”
With ice in their veins, Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Falls Christian) and Danny
Rodts (Niles HS) each sunk four free throws, including each hitting the front
end of a one-in-one situation, in the final minute to seal Calvin’s second
win this season over the Thunder.
Statistically Veldhouse and Rodts are Calvin’s best free throw shooters
averaging 80-percent and 84.6-percent respectively. Calvin averaged just
67.7-percent from the free throw line entering Saturday’s contest and was
ranked seventh in free throw percentage.
“It shows a lot of mental toughness to get those in,” Vande Streek said.
“Danny is just a sophomore and in his first year on varsity. It shows
great character to get them in.
“Caleb is so mentally tough,” Vande Streek said. “It’s great for us to
have his poise. He wants to have the ball and he wants to be in (that
situation).”
Matt Veltema (Calvin Christian) led the Knights for the fourth straight game
since entering the starting lineup, finishing with 18 points. The 6-6 junior
forward scored a career high 23 points and 21 points in his last two games.
“He’s very confident,” Vande Streek said. “He wants the ball in his
hands and he’s made some good plays.”
Veltema has benefited with Veldhouse on the sideline. Veltema has more than
filled Veldhouse’s 13.6 points-per-game average.
“We spread (Caleb’s) shots out, but certainly Matt’s the benefactor,”
Vande Streek said. “It’s not like he’s suddenly (scoring) now. He’s had
a great year start to finish.”
Wes Weir lit up Trine’s Hershey Hall leading all scorers with 28 points.
Weir drained eight of ten three-pointers. Weir’s fourth triple gave Trine its
largest lead of the game, 27-22, midway through the first half.
“We knew going into the game that Wes Weir is maybe the best shooter in the
league,” Vande Streek said. “He shot it right in our eye a couple of
times.”
Weir fueled Trine’s explosive offense that scored 80 points against the
Knights defense for just the third time this season. Calvin surrendered 85
points in an overtime loss to Cornerstone and 95 in a loss to Carthage.
“Trine played really well offensively,” Vande Streek said. “I didn’t
expect Deon Thompson to get into the lane as much as he did. That really put
the pressure (on us). Offense is about penetration and they certainly did that
today.”
Thompson scored 15 points against Calvin’s league best defense and Chris
Mislan added 13 for Trine. Calvin’s defense was averaging 61.3
points-per-game in MIAA league play heading into Saturday’s game in Angola.
Calvin muscled the ball inside to John Mantel (Chelsea HS), who was the second
Knight in double-figures with 15 points, and Tim Katt (Brookfield East HS) to
take an eight point second half lead.
Tyler Zoerhof (Holland Christian) hit a three-pointer to ignite the 17-2 early
second half run. Veltema’s triple gave the Knights an 11-point lead, their
largest of the game, with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.
Weir hit a triple to cut the lead to six points with six minutes remaining and
drained another triple to cut the Knights’ lead to 72-71 with 1:59 left in
the game.
“That doesn’t concern me,” Vande Streek said. “A ten to fifteen point
lead in today’s college basketball means about zero. We had a break down or
two defensively, but they made some plays.”
Mantel muscled in a layup and Calvin hit eight straight free throws to
preserve the win.
Veldhouse played 14 minutes in his return, but did not start. Veldhouse scored
10 points, but was 0 of 3 from beyond the arc. He was 6 of 6 from the free
throw line and did not appear to be affected by his ankle injury.
NOTES: Calvin leads the MIAA in scoring defense (61.3), scoring margin (+12),
rebounding… Calvin is second only to Trine in three-point field goal percentage
(Trine .364, Calvin .349)… Calvin and Trine are 7th and 8th respectively in the
MIAA in free throw percentage… Calvin outrebounded Trine 37-28.
OTHER MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES SATURDAY
Albion 84, Adrian 71
Kalamazoo 80, Alma 52
Hope 92, Olivet 64
MIAA STANDINGS THROUGH 1-31-09 GAMES
Calvin 7-1
Hope 7-1
Albion 5-3
Olivet 4-4
Alma 3-5
Adrian 3-5
Kalamazoo 2-6
Trine 1-7
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Alma 72, Calvin 68 (OT)
GRAND RAPIDS – The Calvin women’s basketball team found itself in a
familiar place Saturday afternoon – in overtime. Unfortunately the Knights
were unable to come out on top, falling 72-68 to Alma in an overtime decision
inside Calvin’s Van Noord Arena.
The game not only marked Calvin’s fifth overtime decision of the year, but
also its fifth overtime game of the month. Four of the overtime games have now
come inside the Van Noord Arena and two have come against Alma. On January 3,
Alma defeated Calvin 58-54 in overtime at Alma’s Cappaert Gymnasium. Since
then, Calvin has defeated Trine in double-overtime 71-65 on January 7, Adrian
72-66 in overtime on January 17 and then fell 72-68 in overtime to Saint
Mary’s Wednesday night.
Saturday’s decision brings Calvin’s overtime record to 2-3 this year.
The loss also dropped Calvin’s overall mark to 10-8 and its conference mark
to 5-6. The Knights are now tied for fifth place in the MIAA standings with
Albion. Calvin and Albion will face each other Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
inside Calvin’s Van Noord Arena.
In Saturday’s game against Alma, Calvin jumped out to a 12-5 lead and later
led 22-15 with 5:36 left in the first half. Alma (6-12 overall, 4-6 MIAA) then
reeled off a 15-4 run to end the half however to take a 32-26 halftime lead.
The Alma lead ballooned to 11 points on two occasions early in the second half
– the second coming at 40-29 with 14:15 left in regulation. Calvin then
mounted a furious comeback, outscoring the Scots 13-1 over the next
four-and-a-half minutes to take a 42-41 lead. The lead then changed hands four
times before the Scots were able to take a 60-51 lead on a three-pointer by
Lauren Hasler with 2:54 remaining.
Calvin mounted another comeback surge, using three-pointers from Sarah
Partridge (East Lansing HS) and Kristi Brummel (South Christian HS) to creep to
within three. A layup by Brummel brought the Knights to within 62-61 with 56
seconds left and after a defensive stop, Calvin regained possession. With nine
seconds remaining, Calvin junior Amber Benthem (McBain Christian HS) was
fouled. Benthem proceeded to miss the first free throw but nailed the second to
tie the game at 62. A last-second shot by Alma rimmed in-and-out, sending the
contest into overtime.
In overtime, Alma took a 70-66 lead. Calvin junior Brook Van Eck (Lowell HS)
came back with a layup with 1:46 remaining in overtime to cut the deficit to
two points. Calvin then had three shots inside the final 1:40 to tie or take
the lead but misfired on all three attempts. The Scots then used a pair of free
throws from Meagan Hoblet with seven seconds left to seal the win.
Van Eck led all scorers with a career-high 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting to
go with eight rebounds and three assists. Brummel added 11 points while
Partridge had 10 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Emily Ottenhoff
(Palos Heights, IL) came off the bench to grab six rebounds, score five points,
collect four steals and hand out two assists.
Hoblet led Alma in scoring with 17 points while Stephanie Bradshaw had 15 for
the Scots.
Calvin shot just 31.9 percent from the floor including just 30 percent in the
second half. The Knights were able to stay in the game with free throw shooting
as the Knights were 19-of-24 (.792) at the charity stripe.
Calvin held a 48-42 rebounding advantage. Alma shot 45.3 percent overall
including 57.1 percent in the second half.
OTHER MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES SATURDAY
Hope 84, Saint Mary’s 59
Trine 70, Albion 63
Olivet 72, Kalamazoo 59
MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-31-09 GAMES
Hope 10-1
Saint Mary’s 9-2
Adrian 6-4
Trine 6-5
Albion 5-6
Calvin 5-6
Alma 4-6
Olivet 3-7
Kalamazoo 0-11
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Sat Jan 31 21:17:21 2009
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Sat Jan 31 2009 - 21:17:21 EST