As usual, stakes were high for both teams as the Flying Dutchmen of Hope made their annual visit to the Calvin Fieldhouse Wednesday night. As both teams stood at 9-1 and tied for lead in the MIAA, the winner of the game would claim sole leadership of the conference. Ranked 25th in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, Calvin edged out fourth-ranked Hope 59-58 to gain that sole leadership as Hope fell a game behind. Only seven points had separated the two teams over their previous 158 meetings so this game had every implication of going down to the wire since Calvin was looking to rebound from an 18 point loss in Holland last month.
Calvin began the game shooting poorly and committing costly turnovers which allowed Hope to gain a lead. Midway through the first half, Calvin found themselves down 18-9 but managed to stay in the game despite shooting a dismal 33.3 percent. Neither team could sustain any kind of scoring run but at the end of the half the score read 31-24 in Hope’s favor but with Calvin still very much in the game.
The second half proved much better for the Knight’s shooting woes. Calvin began the second half with a 10-3 scoring run to tie the game at 34 apiece but quickly found themselves behind again as Hope put together a little scoring run of its own. But Calvin managed to hang around and gave itself a chance to win after junior center Josh Meckes came up with a steal with 20 seconds remaining and the Knights trailing just 58-56. After a series of timeouts, Calvin put the ball in the hands of freshman Caleb Veldhouse who broke free from his defender with a pump fake at the top of the key and launched a three-pointer that found the bottom of the net. The Veldhouse triple also gave Calvin its only lead of the game. Meckes then intercepted a baseball pass by Hope, allowing the clock to run out.
Veldhouse led the Calvin scoring attack with 14 and was followed by Kyle Snoeyink who poured in 13 while grabbing a team high 8 rebounds. Seniors Kyle Trewhella and Andy Draayer each added seven points.
Defense was a main reason why the Knights came out victorious in the end said Hope head coach Glenn VanWieren. “They defended well. They put a lot of pressure on the ball and we weren’t aggressive enough down the stretch.”
Calvin head coach Kevin Vande Streek had the same kind of praise for his defense. “I thought defensively we were outstanding which is why we were able to hang in the game.”
When Veldhouse was asked about taking the final shot, he expressed confidence; “I thought ‘I have to make this shot,’ and I’m thankful it went in. It feels great. There’s not a whole lot of words to describe it other than we played our tails off. It just so happened that I was open so I shot it.”
Vande Streek had instructed Veldhouse in the huddle to take the three if it was there. “Caleb is the best we have at creating his own shot,” said Vande Streek. “I thought in that situation, he could do it.”
Hope was led by junior Stephen Cramer who had 16 points while Greg Immink added 9. Hope out rebounded Calvin 37-35 and shot a better percentage ending at 40.4 percent with Calvin at 38.7 percent.
Calvin now leads the all-time series with Hope 81-78 but Hope still holds a six-point lead in the total points scored between the two teams in the 159 meetings.
On Saturday, Hope (20-2 overall, 9-2 MIAA) will travel to Adrian while Calvin (17-5 overall, 10-1 MIAA) makes their way to Olivet. Both tip-offs are at 3 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score Hope College vs Calvin College 2/8/06 8:00pm at Grand Rapids, MI (Calvin Fieldhouse) At Grand Rapids, MI (Calvin Fieldhouse) CALVIN COLLEGE 59, HOPE COLLEGE 58 HOPE COLLEGE (20-2, 9-2 MIAA) Stephen Cramer 7-11 1-2 16; Greg Immink 3-8 2-2 9; Andy Phillips 4-15 0-0 8; Marcus Vanderheide 3-9 0-0 8; Jeff Carlson 2-3 0-0 6; Eric Voisin 2-5 2-4 6; Tim Partridge 1-2 0-0 3; Scott Richardson 1-4 0-0 2; Tyler Wolfe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 5-8 58. CALVIN COLLEGE (17-5, 10-1 MIAA) Caleb Veldhouse 5-12 0-0 14; Kyle Snoeyink 6-12 1-2 13; Josh Meckes 3-6 2-2 8; Kyle Trewhella 3-11 0-0 7; Andy Draayer 3-8 0-0 7; Eric DeVries 1-3 2-2 4; Tyler Zoerhof 2-2 0-0 4; Micah Chappell 1-3 0-0 2; Dustin Smith 0-5 0-0 0; Kevin Prins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 5-6 59. Hope College.................. 31 27 - 58 Calvin College................ 24 35 - 59 3-point goals-Hope College 7-18 (Jeff Carlson 2-3; Marcus Vanderheide 2-3; Stephen Cramer 1-3; Greg Immink 1-2; Tim Partridge 1-2; Eric Voisin 0-1; Andy Phillips 0-4), Calvin College 6-17 (Caleb Veldhouse 4-5; Andy Draayer 1-5; Kyle Trewhella 1-3; Micah Chappell 0-1; Dustin Smith 0-1; Kyle Snoeyink 0-2). Fouled out--Hope College-None, Calvin College-None. Rebounds-Hope College 37 (Andy Phillips 12), Calvin College 33 (Kyle Snoeyink 7). Assists-Hope College 12 (Andy Phillips 3), Calvin College 16 (Josh Meckes 3; Kyle Trewhella 3; Andy Draayer 3). Total fouls-Hope College 9, Calvin College 9. A-4500 159th Meeting between Calvin and Hope in men's basketball. Calvin takes over sole possession of first place in MIAA standings. Hope ranked 4th in D3hoops.com poll. Calvin ranked 25th. Calvin leads all-time Calvin-Hope series 81-78.