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Schedule and Results

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — With the 150th men's basketball meeting between Calvin and Hope on center stage Saturday afternoon at the Calvin Fieldhouse, it was only fitting that the game provided yet another storied chapter to the history books. In a scintillating contest between the two storied rivals, Calvin pulled out a 74-70 victory over Hope in front of a sellout crowd of 4,500 fans at the Calvin Fieldhouse.

The victory lifted Calvin right back into the MIAA title chase as the Knights improved to 10-6 overall and to 3-1 in the MIAA. Ranked eighth in the latest D3hoops.com poll heading into the afternoon, Hope dropped to 12-3 overall and to 2-1 in the MIAA. The Knights are now a half-game back of league-leading Albion while Hope is a game behind the Britons.

Neither team led by more than six points in Saturday's thriller with the lead changing hands 13 times and the score tied on five occasions.

With time ticking down in the closing seconds and Calvin holding a 71-70 lead, Hope had a chance to retake the lead but a missed 10-foot jump with 20 seconds remaining rimmed out. Calvin senior Jeremy Veenstra corralled the rebound and was quickly fouled with 18 seconds left. Veenstra nailed both ends of a bonus opportunity to put the Knights up 73-70.

Hope then misfired on a 3-point shot with four seconds left and the miss was rebounded by Calvin junior Kevin Broene. Fouled with one second remaining, Broene provided the clinching free throw on the front end of a bonus. The victory was Calvin's seventh in its last eight tries against Hope with the Knights now leading the all-time series 78-72.

Playing in his last regular season game against Hope at the Calvin Fieldhouse, Veenstra stepped up in a big way in Saturday's triumph as he poured in 25 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked one shot. Veenstra was 7-for-13 from the floor, 4-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc, and 7-for-8 from the line.

Veenstra was one of several heroes for the Knights as freshman point guard Jeremy Burgin came off the bench to toss in 12 points on the strength of four 3-point shots, a handful of which came from deep beyond the arc. Playing on a badly sprained ankle that had him on crutches just 24 hours before, Broene came off the bench to provide 11 points including a pair of threes.

Also clutch was the play of junior Chris Prins and sophomore Joel Hoekstra as Prins had 11 points including four in the final two minutes of the game while Hoekstra had eight points and three rebounds off the bench in his first appearance in a Calvin-Hope game.

Prins connected on 15-foot pull-up jumper with 1:29 remaining to put the Knights up 69-67. Only moments before, Hope freshman Jeff Carlson had nailed a huge triple on the break that had tied the score at 67. After a Hope miss, Prins gave the Knights a four-point lead at 71-67 on a driving layup in traffic with 50 seconds remaining.

"In games like this you always wonder who will step up for you in the closing minutes and Chris really stepped to the forefront there," said Calvin men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek. "I can't say enough about that kid. He battled through some things earlier in the game and kept his focus to the end."

Calvin finished the game with a blistering 61.9% 3-point clip as the Knights converted 13 of 21 attempts from beyond the arc.

"A 3-point shot may only be worth one more point than a two-point field goal but it also is the kind of shot that can really get a crowd excited and the momentum back on your side," said Vande Streek. "Obviously the 3-point shot was a big part of victory this afternoon."

Hope was led in scoring by Overbeek who picked up 16 points and seven rebounds while also blocking three shots. Freshman Jeff Carlson was next with 10 points while Greg Immink had nine points as did freshman forward Andy Phillips.

As a team, Hope shot 39.3% (22-for-56) from the floor and actually had more success from beyond the arc as the Dutchmen hit 50% (8-for-16) of their attempts from 3-point territory. In addition, Hope connected on 18 of 21 attempts at the charity stripe for an 85.7% clip.

Calvin shot 46.2% overall and 13-for-16 (.813) from the free throw line. The Knights also held a slim 31-30 rebounding edge. Both teams also struggled with turnovers with Calvin turning it over 18 times and Hope 16.