CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB. 18, 2009
Men's Basketball Claims Outright MIAA Title With Win Over Albion;
Women's Basketball Edges Trine To Clinch Third Seed for MIAA Tourney
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 67, Albion 62
By Chaz Amidon
GRAND RAPIDS – Coach Kevin Vande Streek now has two milestone wins against
Albion this season.
After edging the Britons to become Calvin’s all-time winningest coach back
on Jan. 24, Vande Streek notched his sixth MIAA regular season title as the
Knights squeezed past Albion 67-62 on Wednesday.
“I really thought, going into year, we had a chance to have a really nice
team,” said Vande Streek. “And then we struggled first semester. But you
know, I’ll tell you what, I give our guys a lot of credit. They just kind of
kept staying after it and came back from Christmas and they were
determined.”
The Knights have now won eight straight games – including 14 of their last
15 – and clamped down their first league championship since the 2005-06
season, the year that Calvin’s six current seniors entered the program.
It was fitting, then, that Caleb Veldhouse, Dustin Smith and Tyler Zoerhof,
all seniors, combined to score 11 of Calvin’s final 13 points down the
stretch, staving off an Albion squad that used a barrage of second-half 3s to
stay afloat.
“When this group of seniors were freshmen, we had five of them on the
varsity,” said Vande Streek. “I remember joking around saying that I had to
bring my diaper bag to practice because we were so young.
“For them to contribute like they did as freshmen and win a conference
title, now to see them (as) such great team players, unselfish, working hard,
trying to make their teammates better in practice…it’s pretty special.”
But on a night where Calvin’s seniors shot 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) from the
field, sophomore Danny Rodts scored a career-high 16 points and junior Matt
Veltema added 16 more to bolster a Knights’ offense that shot just 39 percent
from the floor throughout.
The two wingmen connected on back-to-back 3s to trim down a seven-point Albion
lead shortly before the half, where the Britons had a 30-28 advantage.
A Rodts long ball gave the Knights a 43-41 lead with 12:28 remaining, and
Veltema nailed a 3 for Calvin to pull ahead 52-51 with less than 8 minutes
left.
“We all contribute to the offense, all in different ways,” said Rodts, who
finished 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. “I sort of go out and there and do my
part and contribute to the rest of the team. I think every night someone
different carries the load, but usually it’s our seniors carrying us
through.”
The Knights sunk six straight free throws in the final minute – Veldhouse
drilled two shots to make it a two-possession game with 9.3 seconds left –
and forced Albion’s Corey Thelen into heaving up a contested 3-pointer as
time expired.
“We’ve been working on last-second stuff everyday in practice, so we’re
used to it,” said Veltema. “We didn’t want to share the title with
anybody.”
Calvin jumped out to an early 18-8 lead after Veltema’s first 3 ignited a
12-0 run, but the Britons responded minutes later by engineering a 19-2 run
before the half. The Knights forfeited a double-digit lead by allowing Olivet a
19-2 run in the first half on Saturday.
“We’ve got to be more aggressive getting out there, getting out to those
skips,” said Rodts. “We’ve got to be just a little more aggressive on the
defensive end.”
Albion shot 10-of-22 (46 percent) from 3-point range, while Calvin finished
8-of-24 (33 percent) from the perimeter. Veldhouse and Smith, two of the
Knights premier deep threats, combined to shoot only 2-of-12 from downtown.
Calvin turned in its second straight sub-40 percent performance in Van Noord
Arena. The Knights narrowly escaped with a 63-62 win over Hope in its last home
game on Feb. 11, a contest where they shot just 33 percent from the field.
The Knights are now in sole possession of first place with a 12-1 record and
own a two-game lead on second-place Hope (10-3), a team that lost to Albion
earlier this season. The Britons drop down to third place with the loss, but
have a chance to shift back into second with a win on Saturday coupled with a
Hope loss.
NOTES: Calvin will host an MIAA Tournament game for the first time in the new
Van Noord Arena next Wednesday….. Calvin has now won 28 MIAA regular season
titles…Calvin is shooting just 38 percent from the floor at home this
season…Calvin has now outrebounded the opposition in 14 of its 15 MIAA games
this year…Wednesday marked the second straight game Calvin came to win after
trailing at halftime…Calvin also trailed at halftime at Olivet on Saturday
36-35.
OTHER MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY
Hope 97, Adrian 79
Trine 71, Kalamazoo 70
Olivet 75, Alma 72 (2 OT)
MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-18-09 GAMES
Calvin 12-1
Hope 10-3
Albion 9-4
Olivet 6-7
Adrian 5-8
Kalamazoo 4-9
Alma 3-10
Trine 3-10
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 54, Trine 52
ANGOLA, IN -- The Calvin women's basketball stretched its win streak to five
games and clinched the third seed for the upcoming MIAA Tournament with a
come-from-behind 54-52 victory at Trine University Wednesday night. A
three-point play by senior Marcia Harris with 37 seconds left to play gave
Calvin a 53-52 lead. Senior Kristi Brummel added a free throw with eight
seconds left and a shot by Trine's Sarah Howe in the final second of play was
off the mark, allowing the Knights to pull out their second win of the year
over the host Thunder. Calvin had earlier defeated Trine 71-65 in
double-overtime at Calvin on January 7.
Calvin (15-8 overall, 9-6 MIAA) trailed 24-17 at halftime and fell behind by
as many as 11 points in the second half at 37-26. The Knights slowly fought
back into the game, taking their first lead of the second half at 48-47 on a
three-pointer by junior Amber Benthem with 3:42 left to play. The triple by
Benthem culminated a 22-10 Calvin run.
Trine (12-12 overall, 9-7 MIAA) regained the lead at 50-48 on a three-pointer
by Howe with 3:17 left and then took a 52-48 lead on a pair of Howe free throws
with 2:35 remaining. Brummel sliced the deficit in half on a layup by Brummel
and then regained possession with 41 seconds left, setting up the game-winning
three-point play by Harris.
Harris led Calvin in the victory with 15 points and four rebounds while junior
Brook Van Eck scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Trine was led in the loss by Sarah Howe with 18 points and seven rebounds
while Kristen Julian had 14 points and Jordan Loveberry 10 points and six
rebounds.
Calvin held a 36-31 rebounding advantage but committed 24 turnovers. Trine
also turned the ball over 21 times. Calvin shot 38.9 percent overall while
Trine connected on 38.8 percent of its field goal attempts.
Calvin will close out its regular season on Saturday when it hosts rival Hopee
at 2:00 p.m. in front of a Calvin Homecoming crowd.
As the third seed for the MIAA Tournament, Calvin will host a first round game
on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Van Noord Arena.
OTHER MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCORES WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Albion 68, Alma 47
Adrian 75, Kalamazoo 73
Hope 102, Olivet 52
MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-18-09 GAMES
Hope 14-1
Saint Mary’s 12-3
Calvin 9-6
Trine 9-7
Albion 8-7
Adrian 7-8
Alma 6-9
Olivet 3-12
Kalamazoo 0-15
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Feb 19 00:33:25 2009
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