The 154th addition of the Rivalry had a much different feel than the 96-75 drubbing handed to the Knights in the first meeting between the two teams this year.
With the MIAA title on the line, both teams came out with intense man-to-man defensive pressure, and things were promising early on for the Knights. Hope was ice-cold from the field, misfiring on its first five shots from the field. Early foul trouble also plagued the Dutchmen, as Travis Spaman was sent to the sidelines after picking up two quick fouls in the opening 2 minutes. Calvin also suffered a huge blow when junior Dan Aultman was forced to leave the game after an elbow to the mouth knocked one of his teeth loose. He returned a few minutes later, but only spent 10 minutes on the floor in the first half.
Hope did not miss Spaman, however, as freshman Scott Richardson came off the bench and sparked an 18-6 run over a 9 ½ minute span to turn things around and give Hope a 10-point advantage. A Chris Prins three-pointer with 8-minutes left brought the Knights to within five at 18-13, but Calvin would struggle from the field the rest of the half, going just over 8-minutes without a field goal.
An arsenal of free-throws kept Calvin in the game, as the Knights went 11-15 from the charity strip in the final 8 minutes. A pair of made attempts by Chris Prins narrowed the Hope lead to six at 30-24, but Spaman answered with lay-in with two ticks left to give the Dutchmen an eight point lead heading into the locker room.
The story of the first half was Hope’s ability to utilize their post players, as they enjoyed a 16-6 advantage on points in the paint. Calvin also committed 10 turnovers while forcing the Dutchmen into six.
It didn’t take long for Calvin end its eight-minute field-goal drought, as Aultman opened the second half with an arched turn-around jumper to cut the Hope lead to six just 15 seconds in. Hope answered the Aultman bucket with a 21-7 run and extended its lead to twenty at 53-33 with 12 minutes left.
Calvin then took a number of trips to the charity stripe again in the second half and slowly chipped away at the lead. At one point, a senior Kevin Broene free-toss brought the margin to 12 with just under ten minutes to go. Hope answered with a jumper by Daane Griffeth, but Prins came right back with a lay up on the next possession and two minutes later Broene shook off his defender and splashed in a deep three-pointer to make it a nine point game at 55-46 with 6:40 left. Unfortunately for the Knights, that was as close as they would get. Hope closed out the game with a 20-18 run.
After hitting only 25% (6-24) of their shots in the first half, the Knights connected on 39% (9-23) in the second half to end up with a 32% clip on the game. Hope shot 39% (14-36) in the first half and heated up in the second stanza, hitting 57% (13-23) to end the game at 46%. Three-pointers were a rarity for both teams as the Knights made just three of thirteen (23%) and the Dutchmen connected on just three of fifteen (20%). Calvin was good on 31 of its 40 (78%) free-throws, while Hope went 18-26 (69%).
The bigger Hope squad used its height to pull down 10 more boards, outrebounding the Knights 40-30.
Aultman had a game-high for the Knights, pouring in 20 points, including 10-14 from the line. Two other Knights reached double-figures, as Prins chipped in with 14 and Broene added 11 points to go along with 4 steals. Withg his 11-point effort, Broene became the 16th player in Calvin men's basketball history to reach the 1,000 point plateau.
Four of Hope’s five starters reached, as center Kyle Kleersnyder led the Dutchmen with 13 points. Greg Immink and Griffeth added 12 points apiece, while Andy Phillips netted 11 and Scott Richardson came of the bench with 10.
Newspaper Box Score Hope College vs Calvin College 02/18/04 7:39 at Grand Rapids, MI At Grand Rapids, MI HOPE COLLEGE 75, CALVIN COLLEGE 64 HOPE COLLEGE (20-4, 9-2 MIAA) Kyle Kleersnyder 4-10 5-6 13; Greg Immink 3-10 5-8 12; Daane Griffeth 5-10 0-0 12; Andy Phillips 5-10 1-2 11; Scott Richardson 5-7 0-2 10; Matt Taylor 1-3 7-8 9; Travis Spaman 3-4 0-0 6; Stephen Cramer 1-3 0-0 2; Jason Mejeur 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-59 18-26 75. CALVIN COLLEGE (15-9, 8-4 MIAA) Dan Aultman 5-11 10-14 20; Chris Prins 2-6 9-11 14; Kevin Broene 4-7 2-2 11; Ricky Shilts 2-12 2-2 7; Kyle Trewhella 1-2 2-2 4; Brian Roelofs 1-2 0-0 2; Ryan Smalligan 0-1 2-4 2; Joel Hoekstra 0-1 2-2 2; Andy Draayer 0-2 2-3 2; Jeremy Burgin 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-47 31-40 64. Hope College.................. 32 43 - 75 Calvin College................ 24 40 - 64 3-point goals-Hope College 3-15 (Daane Griffeth 2-5; Greg Immink 1-4; Matt Taylor 0-2; Stephen Cramer 0-1; Jason Mejeur 0-1; Andy Phillips 0-2), Calvin College 3-13 (Chris Prins 1-1; Kevin Broene 1-1; Ricky Shilts 1-8; Joel Hoekstra 0-1; Andy Draayer 0-1; Kyle Trewhella 0-1). Fouled out--Hope College-Travis Spaman, Calvin College-Jeremy Burgin. Rebounds-Hope College 40 (Andy Phillips 8; Scott Richardson 8; Kyle Kleersnyder 8), Calvin College 30 (Ryan Smalligan 7). Assists-Hope College 13 (Matt Taylor 5), Calvin College 7 (Jeremy Burgin 2; Kevin Broene 2). Total fouls-Hope College 26, Calvin College 19. A-4500 154th meeting between Calvin and Hope. Calvin leads the all-time series 78-76. Season FG shooting low for Calvin. Kevin Broene reaches 1000 career points.