CSR (Men's Basketball Falls to Aquinas/Calvin in 2nd Place in Learfield Director's Cup Standings)

CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 10, 2009

Men's Basketball Nipped by Aquinas 70-67;
Calvin in Second Place in NACDA Director's Cup Standings

MEN'S BASKETBALL

A strong second half comeback was not enough to lift Calvin to victory
Thursday night at Van Noord Arena as the Knights were defeated by the Saints of
Aquinas 70-67.

Calvin (2-5) trailed 31-29 at halftime as Aquinas (7-3) shot 53.8 percent in
the first half. Aquinas upped its lead to 61-52 with nine minutes remaining in
the second half but the Knights answered back with a 14-3 run to take a 66-64
lead. The run was fueled by three-pointers by John Mantel and Bryan Powell and
a three-point play by Tom Snikkers.

Calvin then had two successive possessions to try to stretch the lead but came
up empty on occassions, allowing Aquinas to come back and tie the game at 66 on
a jumper by John Lierman at the 1:46 mark. A free throw by Mantel lifted Calvin
into a 67-66 lead but the Saints took the lead at 68-67 on a jumper by Lierman
with just over a minute to play.

With a chance to take the lead, Calvin then missed a pair of three-pointers
and was forced to foul. A pair of free throws by Matt McDonald put Aquinas up
70-67 with 15 seconds remaining. Calvin had a last chance to tie but another
three-point attempt was off the mark.

Calvin was led in defeat by Mantel with 19 points and five rebounds while
Snikkers had 11 points and Matt Veltema nine. Aquinas was led by Lierman with
24 points with Jake Shockey scoring 18 and Damacious White 13.

Aquinas shot 50.9 percent overall while Calvin shot just 37.9 percent. The
Saints also held a 35-27 rebounding advantage. Calvin did outscore Aquinas by
10 points at the free throw line but shot just 16 of 23 at the line for a 69.6
percent clip.

Calvin returns to action on Friday, December 18, when the Knights will host
Trinity Christian College at 7:30 p.m. at the Van Noord Arena.

DIRECTOR'S CUP STANDINGS

The latest set of Leerfield Sports Directors' Cup fall sports standings have
been released and after an outstanding fall sports campaign, Calvin College
stands in second place, just 18 points behind first place Williams (MA).

Calvin has a second place total of 349 points, holding a 30-point lead over
third place Washington University (Mo.). Williams (MA) leads the list with 367
points.

Calvin picked up 90 points from its men’s soccer team which finished as the
national runner-up. The Calvin women’s cross country team took third at the
NCAA III Championships which was worth 85 points in the Director’s Cup
standings. Calvin also received 73 points from its women’s soccer team that
placed fifth, 51 points from its men's cross country and 50 points from its
women's volleyball team. The women’s soccer team reached the quarterfinals of
the NCAA III Tournament while the women’s volleyball team advanced to the
second round of the NCAA III Tournament with the Calvin men's cross country
team placing 13th at the NCAA III Championships.

The most recent set of fall sports standings includes the sports of men's and
women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, women's volleyball and women's
field hockey.It does not include football which will conclude in two weeks. The
final fall sports standings are slated to be released on December 23.

The Learfield Director's Cup is based on points earned by teams that compete
in NCAA Championship events and is presented annually by the National
Association of Collegiate Director's of Athletics (NACDA) to the best overall
collegiate athletics program in the country. The Learfield Director's Cup race
is held at the NCAA I, II and III levels and also for NAIA institutions.

Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in NCAA III Championship
competition in up to 18 sports -- nine for men and nine for women. Each
national champion receives 100 points with a national runner-up finish worth 90
points. Third place is worth 85 points and fourth place finishes count for 80
points with a sliding point scale continuing on down by order of finish.

Competition will continue with the winter sports season and finish with the
conclusion of the spring sports season in May.

A year ago, Calvin finished 22nd in the final Division III standings with a
total of 541.0 points. Calvin is one of only seven schools to finish in the
top-25 every year that the competition has been held at the NCAA III level.
Received on Thu Dec 10 22:43:01 2009