Wednesday’s first round MIAA tournament game between Calvin (21-5) and Olivet (6-20) “was a struggle,” according to Head Coach Kevin VandeStreek. The Knights, who are ranked 13th in the latest D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, managed to defeat Olivet by six points, 82-76, despite a lower field goal percentage. With the win, Calvin (21-5) advances to the MIAA Tournament semifinals where it will face Kalamazoo (11-15) Friday night. Hope will face Albion in the first semifinal game Friday with Friday’s winners meeting in the Saturday night finals at 7:30 p.m.
Calvin’s woes began early in the first half, forcing Calvin to use most of the half to play catch-up. After a 5-3 Calvin lead, Olivet took charge and soon held a 23-13 lead over the Knights. Finally getting the act together, the Knights staged a 14-0 run, including seven points from senior Andy Draayer, making the score 29-25 Calvin. With a three by Olivet’s Derek Kurtz and a lay-up by Brandon Way, Olivet regained a one-point lead over the Knights, 33-34. Five points by freshman Dustin Smith, though interrupted by an Olivet jumper, recaptured a two-point lead in Calvin’s favor, 38-36. The remaining 2:45 were scoreless, thus leaving the Knights leading by two at the half.
The second half began on a sweeter note for Calvin, as junior Josh Meckes opened with a lay-up and freshman Caleb Veldhouse added four points. After senior Kyle Snoeyink made what would be the first of many second-half free-throws for Calvin, the Knights held a seven point lead, 47-40. Four straight free-throws, two each from Smith and Meckes, brought the score to 51-43. Due to an Olivet foul and subsequent back-to-back technical fouls on the Comets , Calvin was given six consecutive free-throw attempts and sunk all six: four from Draayer and two from freshman Tyler Zoerhof. After a Zoerhof lay-up that quickly followed, Calvin found itself up 16 points, 59-43, with half of the second half still to come.
But Olivet was not finished with Calvin quite yet; the Comets embarked on a 10-0 run to close the gap to six, 59-53, and after two made free-throws by Veldhouse, made two consecutive shots to come within only three points of the Knights, 61-58. Calvin again got a boost from the free-throw line: besides a three-pointer from Veldhouse, Calvin’s only points in the last five minutes of the half came from the free-throw line. During this time, Olivet did not get within four points of the Knight, though making almost every shot they put up. Ten of these Calvin free-throws came from Veldhouse, while Draayer made four, including two after a third Olivet technical foul. Despite a near-perfect free-throw percentage, the game came down to the wire, as Olivet did not relent but simply ran out of time.
The Knights were 37-40 (92.5 percent) from the line, including 31-34 made free-throws during the second half. With this mark, Calvin set a MIAA Tournament single-game record for the most free-throws made. Caleb Veldhouse, who made all 14 of his allotted free-throws also established a new MIAA Tournament record for most free-throws made in a single game.
“It was a struggle,” said Coach VandeStreek. “It seemed like every time we had a chance to put it away, we just couldn’t. We finished the first half okay, but in the second we lost our focus and they came right back. It seemed like we just couldn’t make a shot.”
Calvin was lead in victory by Veldhouse, who had 24 points, Draayer with a contribution of 17 points, and Smith, who scored 11 points.
Leading Olivet were Derek Kurtz with 24 points, including four three-pointers, De’Andre Pruitt with 17 points and eight rebounds, and Gerald Dozie with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND SCORES
Calvin 82, Olivet 76
Albion 69, Adrian 53
Hope 85, Alma 63
Kalamazoo 61, Tri-State 58
MIAA TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL PAIRINGS AT CALVIN FIELDHOUSE –FEB. 24, 2006
Hope (24-2) vs Albion (20-5) at 6:00 p.m.
Calvin (21-5) vs Kalamazoo (11-15) at 8:15 p.m.
MIAA TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME FEB. 25, 2006 AT 7:30 P.M.
Newspaper Box Score Olivet College vs Calvin College 02/22/06 7:30 pm at at Calvin Fieldhouse (GR, MI) At at Calvin Fieldhouse (GR, MI) CALVIN COLLEGE 82, OLIVET COLLEGE 76 OLIVET COLLEGE (6-20) Derek Kurtz 5-11 10-12 24; De'Andre Pruitt 7-14 1-1 17; Gerald Dozie 5-9 0-1 10; Brandon Way 3-7 0-0 6; Jeff Cooper 2-5 0-0 5; Robert Banks 1-3 2-2 4; Eric McCoy 2-3 0-0 4; Greg Ravy 1-2 0-0 3; Matt Ponik 1-3 0-0 3; Antonio Higginbotham 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-57 13-16 76. CALVIN COLLEGE (21-5) Caleb Veldhouse 4-10 14-14 24; Andy Draayer 3-11 10-10 17; Dustin Smith 3-6 4-6 11; Josh Meckes 3-7 2-2 8; Kyle Trewhella 2-8 2-2 7; Tyler Zoerhof 1-4 4-4 6; Eric DeVries 2-2 0-0 4; Kyle Snoeyink 1-6 1-2 3; Micah Chappell 1-1 0-0 2; Kevin Prins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 37-40 82. Olivet College................ 36 40 - 76 Calvin College................ 38 44 - 82 3-point goals-Olivet College 9-26 (Derek Kurtz 4-7; De'Andre Pruitt 2-6; Matt Ponik 1-2; Greg Ravy 1-2; Jeff Cooper 1-4; Robert Banks 0-2; Brandon Way 0-2; Gerald Dozie 0-1), Calvin College 5-18 (Caleb Veldhouse 2-4; Andy Draayer 1-8; Dustin Smith 1-1; Kyle Trewhella 1-2; Kyle Snoeyink 0-1; Tyler Zoerhof 0-1; Josh Meckes 0-1). Fouled out--Olivet College-Jeff Cooper; Greg Ravy, Calvin College-None. Rebounds-Olivet College 30 (Gerald Dozie 10), Calvin College 37 (Kyle Snoeyink 8). Assists-Olivet College 17 (Gerald Dozie 4; Derek Kurtz 4), Calvin College 10 (Caleb Veldhouse 3). Total fouls-Olivet College 25, Calvin College 14. A-876 MIAA Tournament 1st round game. Calvin sets MIAA Tournament single-game record for most free throws made. Calvin will host MIAA Tournament semis and finals Feb. 24/25. Caleb Veldhouse sets MIAA Tournament single-game record for free throws made. Calvin will face Kalamazoo in Feb. 24 semis.