The MIAA title is Calvin’s first since the 2002 season and is the 27th in school history. Only Hope has won more MIAA titles in men’s basketball than Calvin with 32 but since Calvin joined the MIAA in time for the 1953-54 academic year, no MIAA school has won more league crowns than the Knights.
“Winning the MIAA title is a great accomplishment but we’re not satisfied yet,” said Calvin men’s basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek. “We have a chance to win an outright title on Saturday so we have no plans of relaxing against a very talented Kalamazoo team. If we want to have a chance at winning on Saturday, we’ll need to bring our very best effort to the table.”
In the win over 8th-ranked Albion, 19th-ranked Calvin did not waste any time, holding an early ten-point lead, 15-5 after five minutes of play. Freshman Tyler Zoerhof made two back-to-back field goals to give the Knights a 14-point advantage at 21-7. A series of missed Calvin shots, however, allowed the Britons to cut the lead to eight points, 31-23 with 5:30 left in the half. An Albion three-pointer made the score 35-28, threatening to edge closer to Calvin, but freshman Caleb Veldhouse finished out the half with two free-throws and a last-second jumper to give the Knights a 13-point lead for the second half. Calvin led 41-28.
The second half got off to a rocky start for Calvin, as Albion was able to string together seven uncontested points, narrowing the gap to 41-35. After senior Kyle Snoeyink broke Calvin’s scoring drought with a jumper, Albion’s Zak Silas connected on back-to-back three-pointers, with Calvin’s lead deteriorating to two points at 43-41. A 10-0 run for Calvin, capped of by a three-point play by junior Josh Meckes, distanced the Knights by double-digits again, 53-41. Though Silas sank another three, Calvin strung another run together, ripping off 15 unanswered points to take a commanding twenty-point lead, 68-48 with just under seven minutes to play. Silas put a halt to the run with jumper, and the scoring was back-and-forth for the remainder of the game. Though Calvin scored only two points to Albion’s nine during the last three minutes of play, the Knights still came up with a 12-point lead, defeating the Britons 78-66.
In the win, Calvin was 16-16 from the free-throw line, an accomplishment that obviously contributed heavily to the victory. Head Coach Kevin VandeStreek said “It’s a matter of getting the right guys to the line and having them focus. Tonight we stepped right in and knocked the free throws down, start to finish.”
Calvin scoring was lead by Snoeyink, who had 14 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Veldhouse added 13 points, senior Kyle Trewhella followed with 12 points and five defensive rebounds, and Meckes was also a double-digit contributor with 11 points.
Leading Albion was Silas with 20 points, including four three-pointers, Brandon Crawford with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Mike Bailey, who had 10 points.
Saturday’s Homecoming game with Kalamazoo will take place at 3:00 p.m. at the Calvin Fieldhouse.
Newspaper Box Score Albion College vs Calvin College 2/15/06 7:30 pm at Grand Rapids, MI At Grand Rapids, MI CALVIN COLLEGE 78, ALBION COLLEGE 66 ALBION COLLEGE (18-5, 9-4 MIAA) Zak Silas 8-15 0-0 20; Brandon Crawford 4-9 4-7 12; Mike Bailey 2-8 4-4 10; D.J. Mocini 3-4 2-2 9; Garrett Gibbons 2-2 0-0 6; Rick Palmer 2-4 0-0 5; Evan Way 1-6 0-2 2; Jim Cash 1-4 0-0 2; Andrew Ruddick 0-0 0-0 0; Drew Yancey 0-0 0-0 0; Dean Raven 0-0 0-0 0; Drew Hilton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 10-15 66. CALVIN COLLEGE (19-5, 12-1 MIAA) Kyle Snoeyink 7-11 0-0 14; Caleb Veldhouse 4-9 5-5 13; Kyle Trewhella 4-11 4-4 12; Josh Meckes 4-6 3-3 11; Andy Draayer 2-7 2-2 8; Tyler Zoerhof 4-5 0-0 8; Eric DeVries 3-5 0-0 6; Dustin Smith 1-5 2-2 4; Kevin Prins 1-1 0-0 2; Joe Pearcy 0-0 0-0 0; Patrick Duff 0-0 0-0 0; Micah Chappell 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 30-63 16-16 78. Albion College................ 28 38 - 66 Calvin College................ 41 37 - 78 3-point goals-Albion College 10-22 (Zak Silas 4-8; Garrett Gibbons 2-2; Mike Bailey 2-6; D.J. Mocini 1-2; Rick Palmer 1-1; Jim Cash 0-3), Calvin College 2-12 (Andy Draayer 2-3; Caleb Veldhouse 0-3; Kyle Trewhella 0-4; Dustin Smith 0-1; Kyle Snoeyink 0-1). Fouled out--Albion College-None, Calvin College-None. Rebounds-Albion College 33 (Brandon Crawford 9), Calvin College 32 (Kyle Snoeyink 6). Assists-Albion College 16 (Mike Bailey 8), Calvin College 21 (Caleb Veldhouse 5). Total fouls-Albion College 16, Calvin College 10. A-2950 Calvin clinches share of first MIAA title since 2002. Also clinches top seed for MIAA Tournament next week.