while snapping a four-game losing streak against rival Hope as the Knights
handed the Flying Dutchmen a 66-54 defeat in front of a near capacity crowd at
the Calvin Fieldhouse.
Monday's game was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon but was
postponed two days because of a winter blizzard that swept through West
Michigan Friday night into Saturday.
During its victory over Hope Monday night, Calvin received word that it had
move back into the D3hoops.com Top-25 national rankings for the first time
since the 2000-2001 season as the Knights are ranked 23rd in the most recent
D3hoops.com Top-25 poll.
Calvin (13-4 overall, 5-1 MIAA) used defense to gain the win against the
Flying Dutchmen (7-10 overall, 3-3 MIAA) as the Knights held Hope to 20.5
percent field goal shooting in the first half in taking a 33-21 halftime lead.
Calvin used a 7-0 run early in the first half to jump out to a lead it would
never relinquish and used a 10-4 run over the final 3:17 of the half capped off
by an alley-oop slam dunk by sophomore Josh Meckes in the closing seconds.
Meckes would add another alley-oop dunk in the opening minutes of the second
half as Calvin was able to build a 19-point lead at 49-30 with 11:40 remaining.
Hope would score 10 unanswered points to cut the gap to nine at 51-42 with
9:20 left on the clock but would get no closer as junior forward Joel Hoekstra
delivered a clutch three-pointer from the wing and followed with a jumper in
traffic to put the Knights back up by double-digits to stay.
Hoekstra and Meckes had big efforts for the Knights with Hoekstra scoring 13
points and Meckes ripping down a game-high 13 rebounds along with eight points
two steals and two assists. Junior guard Kyle Trewhella also had a fine
evening with 14 points, five assists and four rebounds. Senior Ricky Shilts
added nine points, three assists and three steals with senior Dan Aultman
chipping in with eight points.
Junior Andy Phillips was Hope's top scorer with 12 points and eight boards
with senior Daane Griffeth adding 10.
Calvin finished the game with a 45.5 percent field goal clip while holding Hoe
to 31.4 percent field goal shooting.
"This type of (defensive) effort is something we've been working on since
Christmas break," said Calvin men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek.
"I could see it coming and when the crowd got into it tonight, our guys
really got excited."
Monday's game marked the 155th meeting between Calvin and Hope in a series
that Calvin now leads 79-76. Monday's victory marked Calvin's first win
against Hope since a 74-70 win in January of 2003 at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
Over 155 meetings, just seven points separate the two teams in the combined
scoring total of both teams with Hope holding the slim seven-point edge.
The second meeting of the year is scheduled for February 16 at Hope's
Holland Civic Center.
Monday's game was the first of three MIAA games for Calvin this week as the
Knights journey to Tri-State Wednesday and then host Adrian on Saturday.
"We'll have our hands full at Tri-State," said Vande Streek. "We've
got no room for a let-down. With the type of energy that Tri-State brings
every game, we'll have to be ready to give our best effort. We'll be
playing a team that has been improving rapidly and certainly deserves our
complete attention."
Newspaper Box Score Hope College vs Calvin College 01/24/05 8:06 at Grand Rapids, MI At Grand Rapids, MI CALVIN COLLEGE 66, HOPE COLLEGE 54 HOPE COLLEGE (7-10, 3-3 MIAA) Andy Phillips 6-13 0-0 12; Daane Griffeth 4-12 0-0 10; Kyle Kleersnyder 3-8 3-4 9; Danny Brown 2-4 0-0 6; Stephen Cramer 3-9 0-0 6; Eric Voisin 2-10 0-0 4; Scott Richardson 1-3 1-2 3; Jake Hogeboom 1-6 0-0 3; Travis Spaman 0-2 1-2 1; Patrick Woolpert 0-0 0-0 0; Peter Overbeek 0-0 0-0 0; Jeff Carlson 0-2 0-0 0; Jack Klunder 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-70 5-8 54. CALVIN COLLEGE (13-4, 5-1 MIAA) Kyle Trewhella 6-12 0-0 14; Joel Hoekstra 4-10 4-6 13; Ricky Shilts 3-8 2-2 9; Dan Aultman 4-8 0-0 8; Josh Meckes 4-5 0-0 8; Andy Draayer 2-7 1-2 7; Brad Sall 0-1 2-2 2; Eric DeVries 1-1 0-0 2; Kyle Snoeyink 1-2 0-0 2; Josh Vriesman 0-1 1-2 1; Kevin Prins 0-0 0-0 0; Todd Koetsier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 10-14 66. Hope College.................. 21 33 - 54 Calvin College................ 33 33 - 66 3-point goals-Hope College 5-23 (Daane Griffeth 2-6; Danny Brown 2-3; Jake Hogeboom 1-2; Eric Voisin 0-5; Jeff Carlson 0-1; Stephen Cramer 0-2; Kyle Kleersnyder 0-1; Andy Phillips 0-3), Calvin College 6-19 (Andy Draayer 2-6; Kyle Trewhella 2-4; Joel Hoekstra 1-3; Ricky Shilts 1-4; Josh Vriesman 0-1; Brad Sall 0-1). Fouled out--Hope College-None, Calvin College-None. Rebounds-Hope College 36 (Andy Phillips 8), Calvin College 40 (Josh Meckes 13). Assists-Hope College 14 (Travis Spaman 2; Daane Griffeth 2; Eric Voisin 2; Andy Phillips 2; Jack Klunder 2), Calvin College 17 (Kyle Trewhella 5). Total fouls-Hope College 15, Calvin College 11. A-4500 155th meeting between Calvin and Hope. Calvin leads the series 79-76. Calvin breaks 4-game losing streak to Hope and moves into three-way tie for MIAA lead with Adrian and Albion.