Jan. 16, 2008

Stats

ADRIAN, Mich. - A sluggish few minutes from the opening tip set the tone for a 79-67 loss to Calvin on Wednesday night by the Adrian men's basketball team. The Bulldogs found themselves down 7-0 in the first 2:50 of the game and never took the lead as Calvin hit enough big shots to keep Adrian at arms length throughout the contest.

The Bulldogs scored their first point at the foul line at 16:55 as Dwight VanHoesen split a pair to make it 7-1. Calvin would extend its lead to 15-3 at the 13:37 mark on a layup by Tim Katt which resulted in a Buck Riley timeout to settle his players. Lamar Cardenas gave Adrian a spark off the bench making his first two shots, a jumper at 13:03 and a triple at 12:05, to pull AC within 17-8. The deep ball kept Calvin ahead in the first half making six of their 13 attempts in the first half. The Knights held a double-digit advantage for the rest of the half and went into the locker room with a 40-25 lead.

Calvin began to sputter in the middle of the second half as Adrian turned up their offense to get within 52-43 with 11:13 to go on a three-point play by Desmond Young. The Bulldog faithful had something to cheer about at the 9:39 mark as the home squad cut the deficit to 56-51 on a three-pointer by Cardenas. It would be the closest AC would get as Calvin used a 9-0 run over the next couple minutes to build their cushion back to 65-51 at the 5:51 mark. Adrian did not have an answer for Caleb Veldhouse who led all scorers with 26 points to take over the MIAA scoring lead. Veldhouse was 10-of-19 shooting with four triples and two free throws in 27 minutes. He also dished out five assists and registered three steals.

Young led Adrian with 18 points scoring nine points in each half. He was 6-of-15 shooting and 6-of-7 at the charity stripe while leading the team with five assists in 38 minutes. Cardenas finished with 17 points including 11 in the first half. He was 7-of-12 shooting and 3-of-5 from behind the long line. Ryan Gallus only attempted one shot in the first half and rebounded to score all 17 of his points in the second half. He however also picked up five second half fouls exiting the game with nine seconds left. He was 5-of-9 shooting and 5-of-5 at the foul line in 25 minutes. Ian Weber struggled to put up offense but did have 11 rebounds including six offensive caroms in 33 minutes. The Adrian frontcourt players scored just two points on 1-of-9 shooting between four players.

Adrian shot 42.9 percent and were 12-of-15 from the line improving on their season average of 64.7 percent. Calvin finished the game 10-of-21 from the arc (.476) and were 15-of-19 at the foul line. Calvin hurt Adrian inside with a 20-6 edge in second chance points. Calvin also held a slight 34-32 edge on the boards.