News Release

RIVER FALLS, WI — The Calvin men’s basketball team will carry an 8-3 record and a four-game win streak into its 2005 MIAA opener next Wednesday at Adrian after capturing the championship of the Cenex Harvest States Classic hosted by the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Calvin captured the tournament title with a 62-52 victory over the host Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons. The tournament crown is the second of the year for the Knights who earlier captured their own Calvin Tip-Off Tournament title on November 20.

Calvin (8-3) overcame its worst shooting performance of the year to gain the win Thursday night. Calvin shot just 37.5 percent overall including just 31.3 percent in the first half but limited River Falls (4-7) to 31.3 percent shooting as well while outrebounding the Falcons 47-41 including 15-12 on the offensive glass.

“I think this game served an important lesson for us,” said Calvin men’s basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek. “Some nights, no matter how hard you try, the shots just aren’t going to fall the way they normally do but if you dig down on defense and rebound the basketball, you’ll always give yourself a chance to win. That’s exactly what we did tonight.”

Calvin took an early 9-3 lead but River Falls would come back to take a 26-25 halftime lead as it outscored the Knights 11-4 over the final 5:37 of the opening half.

Calvin then fell behind by eight at 35-27 in the opening minutes of the second half but roared back with 10 unanswered points capped off by a layup in traffic by senior Dan Aultman to take a 37-35 lead with just over 16 minutes remaining. A jumper by Aultman put the Knights up 41-39 with 13:41 left with neither team scoring over the next four-and-a-half minutes.

Calvin junior Andy Draayer finally broke the drought with a key three-pointer off the bench and followed with his fourth trifecta of the game a minute later. Aultman followed with a baseline jumper to give Calvin its biggest lead of the game at 51-41 with 7:11 left on the clock.

River Falls clawed back with an 11-5 run to creep to within 56-52 with 1:59 remaining but Calvin juniors Joel Hoekstra and Kyle Trewhella stepped up with clutch baskets with Hoekstra drilling a three-pointer from the top of the key and Trewhella adding a 19-foot jumper with 51 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.

“When the money was on the line, Joel and Kyle stepped up and delivered,” said Vande Streek. “Even though our shooting had not been great, both of those guys were willing to take the big shots which is what you love to see as a coach.”
Aultman led Calvin with 19 points and six rebounds while Draayer had 12 points off the bench and Trehwella 10 points. Hoekstra added nine points and five boards. Sophomore forward Josh Meckes was also superb for the Maroon and Gold as he ripped down a team-high 10 rebounds, scored five points and blocked two shots.

Vande Streek also cited the play of senior Brad Sall who contributed six rebounds, five points, three assists and two steals off the bench.

“I thought Brad Sall’s play was a huge reason why we won tonight’s game,” said Vande Streek. “He brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the floor, particularly on defense.”

River Falls was led in defeat by Dan Torrez who scored 11 points while Jeff Holt and Hans Hoeg added 10 points apiece.

Calvin will now turn its attention to its MIAA opener next Wednesday night at Adrian with an opening tip set for 7:30 p.m. Calvin’s MIAA home opener will be Saturday, January 8 when the Knights entertain 11th-ranked and currently undefeated Albion (10-0) at 3:00 p.m. at the Calvin Fieldhouse.

With an 8-3 record, Calvin will carry its best non-conference mark into its MIAA season since the 2001-2002 season when the Knights entered the league season with a 9-3 mark.

“We’re jumping right into the thick of it next week,” said Vande Streek. “I expect every week to be a battle and next week will certainly be no different. We’ve been in quite a few battles already in the non-conference season and hopefully we’ll be able to use those experiences through our conference schedule.”

Calvin College vs UW-River Falls
Dec. 30 8 p.m. at River Falls, Wis.
At River Falls, Wis.
CALVIN COLLEGE 62, UW-RIVER FALLS 52
CALVIN COLLEGE (8-3)
Dan Aultman 8-15 3-4 19; Andy Draayer 4-9 0-0 12; Kyle Trewhella 4-7 0-0 10;
Joel Hoekstra 4-12 0-1 9; Brad Sall 2-3 0-2 5; Josh Meckes 2-5 1-2 5; Eric
DeVries 0-1 2-2 2; Josh Vriesman 0-0 0-0 0; Ricky Shilts 0-8 0-0 0; Kyle
Snoeyink 0-1 0-0 0; Todd Koetsier 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-64 6-11 62.
UW-RIVER FALLS (4-7)
Torrez, Dan 4-18 0-0 11; Holt, Jeff 4-12 0-0 10; Hoeg, Hans 4-14 2-2 10;
Kossoris, Eric 3-7 2-2 9; Coffman, Mitch 2-5 0-0 4; Kelly, Scott 1-3 0-0 3;
Hall, Nick 1-4 0-0 3; Thompson, Ryan 1-1 0-0 2; Maas, Alex 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
20-64 4-4 52.
Calvin College................   25   37  -   62
UW-River Falls................   26   26  -   52
3-point goals-Calvin College 8-25 (Andy Draayer 4-8; Kyle Trewhella 2-3;
Brad Sall 1-2; Joel Hoekstra 1-3; Ricky Shilts 0-8; Todd Koetsier 0-1),
UW-River Falls 8-22 (Torrez, Dan 3-11; Holt, Jeff 2-6; Kossoris, Eric 1-2;
Kelly, Scott 1-1; Hall, Nick 1-1; Hoeg, Hans 0-1). Fouled out--Calvin
College-None, UW-River Falls-None. Rebounds-Calvin College 47 (Josh Meckes
10), UW-River Falls 41 (Hoeg, Hans 11). Assists-Calvin College 13 (Brad Sall
3; Josh Vriesman 3; Ricky Shilts 3), UW-River Falls 12 (Kelly, Scott 3;
Hall, Nick 3). Total fouls-Calvin College 12, UW-River Falls 13. A-700