2006-07 KVCC Men's Basketball Results
(Scroll down to see results of earlier games)

NJCAA Region XII, Division II, District 8

Championship Game Played on March 3rd, 2007

Mott 86, Kellogg 67     [Box Score]

Semifinal Games Played on March 2nd, 2007

Kellogg 81, Lansing 80     [Box Score]

Mott 84, Schoolcraft 69     [Box Score]

Quarterfinal Games

Lansing 79, Kalamazoo Valley 73     3-1-07     [Box Score]     [Final League Stats]     [30 Game Cumulative Stats]

Netting 22-27 second half free throws, the Lansing Stars held off a furious Cougar rally tonight to move to the Final Four of the District 8 Tournament.  Herschel Rodgers hit 9-10 and Cameron Duncan 9-11 from the line to offset a spectacular shooting performance by diminutive point guard, Nick Neal, late in the game.  In the final 4:22 of the game, Neal scored 17 points in the frantic comeback attempt.  He finished as the game's top scorer with a career high 27.  Michael Tilmon netted 15 and Kevin Ludwig 13 for the Cougars.  Rodgers led Lansing with 19; Duncan had 17; Garon McCarty tossed in 15 on 4-4 shooting from long range, and Andy Clark chipped in 11 for the Stars.  Lansing finished the game 24-57 (.421) from the floor to KVCC's 29-70 (.414) despite a 19-38 (.500) effort during the comeback half.  Lansing hit 24-31 (.774) from the FT line; KVCC was 5-10 (.500).  Kyle Laker led all rebounders with 10 in only 18:21 of action.  KVCC out-rebounded Lansing 42-38, with Tilmon grabbing 8 and Paul Griffith 7 to compliment Laker.  Clark and Vamar Allen each had 8 for Lansing.

Coach's Comments:  "This game was a classic case of 'too little, too late'.  We did a better job defending Herschal Rodgers tonight--he was 5-14 from the floor--but we fouled him too often again as well--he was 9-10 from the line.  I thought Garon McCarty's 4-4 from three point land (3-3 in the second half) was the difference in the game.  Nevertheless, this group of players built upon the great Cougar tradition of hustle and determination as again and again they refused to give up.  Lansing's last 20 points were free throws and we pecked away at the lead enough to come from a 14 point deficit at the 4:32 mark (47-61) to get to 70-75 with :22 left but it just wasn't enough on this night.  I am very proud of each of our players.  I think the second half was one of our best halves of the season as we reached our elusive 50% shooting goal by sharing the ball consistently (9 assists) and selecting shots carefully.  Actually, we had several bright spots in the loss.  One was the fact that even though Kyle was under the weather, he managed to be the game's top rebounder with 10 in only 18:21 of play.  Another was the second consecutive strong game by Michael, going 6-7 from the field and grabbing 8 boards.  Also, Paul led us with 4 assists, and, finally, the spectacular shooting performance by Nick Neal in the last 4:22 of the game provided a lifetime memory.  Nick scored 17 points in that time period, an accomplishment that is unmatched by any of the players I have coached in my 41 years of coaching!  While I was obviously disappointed at not advancing to the semifinals, I also realize that 18-12 is a solid achievement.  I am confident that many valuable life lessons were once again learned, and I am pleased that I had the opportunity to be a part of that growth process."

Kellogg 84, St. Clair County 73     3-1-07     [Box Score]

Mott 77, Grand Rapids 64     3-1-07     [Box Score]

Schoolcraft 93, Glen Oaks 60     3-1-07     [Box Score]

Four Games Played on February 28, 2007, at KVCC

 Kalamazoo Valley 75, Alpena 69     2-28-07     [18-11]     [7-7]     [Final League Stats]     [Box Score]     [29 Game Cumulative Stats]

The Cougars opened a 17-7 lead on a jumper by Shawn Carter at the 14:09 mark, but the Lumberjacks battled back to tie the score at 34 at the half.  Both teams featured solid defense holding each other below 40% shooting the first 20 minutes.  The second half featured relentless inside play by Alpena's Aaron Hincka and prolific outside shooting by KVCC's Kevin Ludwig, with the game going to 71-69 Cougars with :26 left.  Nick Neal swished two FT's and Daniel Gay, Jr., followed and the Cougars held on for the hard fought win.  Hincka led all scorers with 21 and added 14 rebounds to post a double-double.  Austin Rowe chipped in 16 and Matt Ponik, 15, for Alpena.  Ludwig finished with 20 while Michael Tilmon pitched in 14 and Neal 10 for KVCC.  Alpena shot 24-54 (.444) from the floor; KVCC was 27-65 (.415).  The difference was from the charity stripe as Alpena could only manage 13-24 (.542) to KVCC's 15-18 (.833).  Alpena out-rebounded KVCC 38-37.  Neal had 7 assists to only 1 turnover for Valley.  The lead changed hands 5 times and was tied 5 times in the tense struggle.

Coach's Comments:  "I thought the difference tonight was our ability to 'contain' Aaron Hincka.  Aaron has had some big games this year, 48, 44, and 21, 18 rebounds respectively, so we were obviously very concerned about him.  He had a fine game, 8-13, 21 points, and 14 rebounds, and had he made his free throws--he was 5-14--we would probably not have won.  Michael gave us some good minutes tonight, and Kevin shot the ball well.  We had 19 assists to 10 turnovers also, another big factor.  And, finally, finally, we shot it well from the charity stripe, 15-18 for .833.  As I have said before, ANY wins in late February and early March are BIG wins for any college program.  Alpena is well coached, plays hard, and provided spirited competition.  I'm thankful to be moving on the Elite Eight in this special tournament."

Lansing 86, Oakland 75     2-28-07     [Box Score]

St. Clair County 73, Muskegon 50     2-28-07     [Box Score]

Kellogg 84, Lake Michigan 73     2-28-07     [Box Score]

Mott 109, Ancilla 66     2-27-07     [Box Score]

Grand Rapids 67, Henry Ford 63     2-27-07     [Box Score]

Glen Oaks 76, Macomb 47     2-27-07     [Box Score]

Schoolcraft 86, Wayne County 79     2-27-07     [Box Score]

MCCAA State Championship Game

Schoolcraft 103, Lansing 96     2-24-07     [Box Score]

MCCAA State Tournament Semifinals

Schoolcraft 115, Kellogg 100     2-23-07     [Box Score]

Lansing 80, Mott 77 (OT)    2-23-07     [Box Score]

Kellogg 102, Kalamazoo Valley 77     (17-11)     (7-7)     2-21-07     [Box Score]     [28 Game Cumulative Stats]     [Final 14 Game League Stats]

Kevin Ludwig scored 5 points early as both teams came out shooting tonight.  Kevin's triple with 15:12 on the clock gave the Cougars a 15-14 lead, but as he landed on Jerome Douglas' foot, the Cougar dreams of becoming a Cinderella team in the MCCAA tournament began to fade.  A quick jumper by Joe Young at 15:03 quickly gave the Bruins the lead back and started a surge from which the Cougars would not recover.  Displaying tenacious pressure defense and superior passing, Kellogg spurted to a 53-37 halftime lead and never looked back.  The Cougars were not able to mount a serious comeback as Kellogg coasted to an impressive 102-77 win.  The league's MVP, Joe Young, led all scorers with 32 on 10-13 shooting from the field and 8-9 from the line.  Behind spectacular shooting, 15-17 from the floor, Toriano Adams posted a brilliant 31 points and 18 rebounds for the victors as well.  Josh Young contributed 18 to the winning cause.  Kellogg pounded KVCC on the glass, 51-26, as no Cougar could grab more than 4 boards for the night.  Shawn Carter led KVCC with 14; Nick Neal chipped in 11.  The Bruins shot a blistering 39-69 (.565) for the game while the Cougars finished 31-73 (.425).  Douglas and Josh Young were the game's top passers with 7 assists each.  The win advances Kellogg to the State Final Four, matching them with Schoolcraft College at 7:30 PM Friday at KVCC.  Lansing will play Mott in the other semi-final game at KVCC, Friday, at 5:30 PM.

Coach's Comments:  "Kellogg outplayed us tonight in every category.  They had more energy, clobbered us on the boards, and rode two remarkable performances to the lop-sided win.  We must credit Toriano Adams with a classic show, going 15-17 from the field, and Joe Young simply did to us what he has been doing routinely to other teams throughout the year.  They are not Conference Champions by accident or default; they are for real.  I wish them the best against Schoolcraft Friday.  For us, Kevin's status for our District 8 Tournament next week is uncertain, and more bad news, Shawn Carter has a probable dislocated knuckle in his hand.  Both of them are being evaluated Thursday, and we obviously are hoping and praying for the best.  About tonight, however, we did not execute well on offense, forcing numerous shots and letting them get into their specialty, transition offense.  We were able to keep Glen Oaks out of transition last Monday night, but we failed miserably tonight at the same objective against KCC.  Kellogg is a talented, together team that is stepping up to the challenge at tournament time.  When I saw them back in December, I told others that I thought they were the team to beat this year.  My observations have held up.  We will now be playing at 7:30 PM next Wednesday, February 28, in the District 8, NJCAA Regional Tournament, being held at KVCC.  Because of an eligibility audit situation at a member school, our opponent is currently unknown.  It will likely be either Macomb or Alpena."

Kalamazoo Valley 69, Glen Oaks 53     (17-10)     (7-7)     2-19-07     [Box Score]     [27 Game Cumulative Stats]     [14 Game League Stats]

With both teams struggling on offense this game was deadlocked at 29 at the intermission.  In the final stanza, a Daniel Gay, Jr., lay-up at the 12:25 mark capped a 15-4 Cougar spurt to put KVCC up 44-33.  The Cougars would extend the lead to 67-47 with 1:12 left as the Vikings could not get closer than 10 the remainder of the contest.  Kevin Ludwig led all scorers with 20 on 9-13 shooting from the field; Shawn Carter chipped in 13 (10 in the 2nd half) as did Gay for KVCC.  Kendall Harvey led Glen Oaks with 16; Cornell Collins had 11.  Kyle Greene had 11 rebounds and 4 blocks for Glen Oaks; Kyle Laker had 10 rebounds for the Cougars as Valley out-rebounded the visitors 44-41.  Glen Oaks finished with 14 assists and 8 turnovers; KVCC had 19 assists and 8 turnovers, only 2 coming in the opening half.  GOCC shot 22-71 (.310) from the field; KVCC was 28-61 (.459).  Paul Griffith had 4 blocked shots; Ludwig had 3 for the host team.

Coach's Comments:  "The first half we saw more of the same struggles we've had all season.  We shot only 12-33 (.364) from the field, BUT this time around, our defense and ball handling were good enough to keep us even at the break.  They shot 12-30 (.400) in the first half; and we had only 2 turnovers in 20 minutes of action!  In the 2nd half I thought we played solid both offensively and defensively; that is, we shot 16-29 (.571) from the floor while holding them to 10-41 (.244).  Our goal was to have twice as many assists as we did turnovers--a goal we reached (19-8).  Our bench gave us some good minutes again tonight, and we were able to score inside with some good passing and finishing, especially by Laker, Carter, and Griffith.  Any wins this time of year are BIG to a program.  We stay alive in the MCCAA State Tournament, which tonight was reduced down to 8 of the 18 programs in the state.  We have earned the opportunity to play the Conference Champions Wednesday night at Kellogg CC.  They have two first team All Conference, All State, and All Region players in Joe Young and Toriano Adams.  Young is averaging 23 points and Adams 17 points and 17 rebounds a game.  It will be an awesome challenge, but one we all relish accepting."   

Kalamazoo Valley, 78, Ancilla 51     (16-10)     (7-7)     2-16-07     [Box Score]     [26 Game Cumulative Stats]     [14 Game League Stats]

KVCC raced out to an 8-0 lead and nursed it to 20-13 tonight, but Ancilla battled back to close to 23-27 at the break.  Playing without their leading scorer and point guard, Mike Russell, the Chargers fell prey to a 16-2 Cougar run after the break.  The host squad revved up the transition game and spurted to a 76-38 lead with 4:00 left.  Kevin Ludwig led the balanced Cougar attack with 14; Paul Griffith added 13, and Kyle Laker 12.  Jacobe Edmondson and Aaron Sanders led Ancilla with 10 apiece.  The rebounding war went to KVCC, 50-39, with Shawn Carter grabbing 8 and Griffith 7.  Ethan McNary was the game's top rebounder with 10; Dejan Nedelkovski garnered 8.  The Cougars shot 29-67 (.433) for the game, 18-36 (.500) in the second half.  Ancilla finished 22-64 (.344) from the field.  Nick Neal had game highs for assists (6) and steals (4).

Coach's Comments:  "Our defense was pretty consistent tonight as we held them to .367 in the first half and .324 in the final stanza.  Our offense was good at the start of both halves, but broke down again during the latter part of the first half.  Our ability to come up with 15 steals tonight led to many transition baskets, something that we have not had enough of this season.  And we finally out-rebounded someone!   Also, the 22 assists to 14 turnovers, was another good sign.  In fairness to Ancilla, they seemed to wear down, probably because they played a game that was postponed Wednesday night, last night, posting a great win over Grand Rapids.  That fact, coupled with the loss of their point guard, Mike Russell, who scored 36 points in the Grand Rapids win, but was not able to make the trip to Kalamazoo because of the passing of his grandfather, definitely hurt the Chargers' cause.  From our standpoint, however, we have been able to finish our second round of league action 4 and 3 after going 3 and 4 the first time around.  And the good news is that coupled with Glen Oaks' loss tonight at Grand Rapids, we now have secured a home court game against Glen Oaks Monday at 7:00 PM in first round action in the MCCAA State Tournament.  The winner of Monday night's game will travel to Kellogg to play the Conference Champions on Wednesday."

Kalamazoo Valley 76, Lansing 72     (15-10)     (6-7)     2-14-07     [Box Score]     [25 Game Cumulative Stats]     [13 Game League Stats]

Kyle Laker scored a season high 18 and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead KVCC to a tense 76-72 overtime victory tonight at Lansing Community College.  The lead swapped hands 3 times in the opening stanza, with the hosts grabbing its biggest lead, 24-15, on a jumper by Vamar Allen at the 8:09 mark.  The Cougars, however, finished the half on a 19-7 run to lead 34-31 at the break.  The second half saw 8 more lead changes and 6 ties before Kevin Ludwig nailed a trey with :38 left to put the Cougars back on top, 64-62.  A nifty pass from Cameron Duncan to Jordan Leuvoy enabled a lay-up that knotted the game at 64 with :01.9 ticks left.  After a Cougar violation, LCC had one more chance with :01 left and a Corey Lucas jumper was wide of the mark, sending the game into overtime.  The Stars struck first with two FT's by Herschal Rodgers, but Shawn Carter responded seconds later with a short jumper to knot the score once again.  Both teams tightened their defense over the next two minutes, but a triple by Nick Neal at the 2:18 mark made it 69-67 KVCC.  Laker followed with a smooth 12' jump hook with the shot clock expiring to make it 71-67 KVCC with 1:30 left.  LCC closed the gap again with :21.5 left on a triple by Ron Ferguson, but two free throws by Ludwig and two more by Daniel Gay, Jr., iced the game for the Cougars.  Vamar Allen had 18 points and 18 rebounds for the Stars and was supported by Rodgers' 17, Duncan's 10, and Ferguson's 9.  For the Cougars, it was Laker with 18, Ludwig 16, and Shawn Carter 15.  Carter also contributed 8 rebounds; Ludwig, 7 assists.  The victors finished the game 31-71 (.437) after shooting a torrid 15-29 (.517) in the second half.  LCC was 26-74 (.351) from the field.  Both teams were cold from the arc with KVCC finishing 4-18 (.222) and LCC 5-23 (.217).   Lansing had 48 boards to KVCC's 45.  KVCC had 23 assists and 13 turnovers; LCC had 10 assists and 14 turnovers.  The Stars continued their stellar FT performance, netting 15-17 (.882); while the visitors were a modest 10-16 (.625).

Coach's Comments:  "While we didn't execute like we wanted to, this was, nevertheless a great road win for us.  We managed to stay close most of the game, and even established a small lead several times.  I thought the difference in the second half was our ability to get the ball down low to Kyle and his ability to score--he was 8-11 from the floor--when we did.  We scored 18 points off their turnovers and only gave up 13 off ours.  Kevin hit a BIG three in regulation to give us the lead with :38 left and Kyle beat the shot clock with his jump hook in the OT to put us up 4 with 1:30 remaining.  Nick's three with 2:18 left gave us the lead for good.  It was a good effort and keeps our hopes alive for a home court berth in the MCCAA State Tournament, which starts next Monday.  Lake Michigan's 69-67 win over Muskegon puts us back up to No. 5 in our league."

Kalamazoo Valley 75, Lake Michigan 74     (14-10)     (5-7)     2-9-07      [Box Score]     [24 Game Cumulative Stats]     [12 Game League Stats]

The Indians from Benton Harbor, behind 3 early triples by Bridgman's Tyler Weaver shot out to an 18-11 lead early, and firing 14-26 (.538) from the floor managed to stake a 34-31 halftime lead tonight.  Weaver went on to make two more triples in the first half and two more in the closing stanza to finish 7-12 from behind the arc, 8-13 overall to earn the game's high scoring honors with 23.  Benton Harbor's Kayln Meeks chipped in 16 and LaJuan Barlow hit for 14.  Point guard Anthony Graves dished out 7 assists; Barlow had 6.  For the Cougars it was Shawn Carter leading the way with 18, 12 of them coming in the 2nd half; Paul Griffith hit for 16 and Kyle Laker for 12 on 6-6 shooting from the floor.  Griffith's biggest basket came with :42 left, tying the game for the FIRST time, 70-70.  Meeks banked one off the glass with :35 left to give LMC the lead again, 72-70, but Shawn Carter responded with a short jumper to tie it again at the :26 mark.  A flurry of shooting, rebounding, tipping, falling down, snapping the rim down, and generally creating mayhem at the :09 mark ended with players strewn over the floor and Jeremy Cummings' tipping the ball in with :05.5 remaining, giving the Indians a 74-72 lead.  A Cougar fast break was aborted by a time out just before the ball squirted out of bounds off Nick Neal's leg with :02.2 left.  The Cougars set up a last second play and Daniel Gay, Jr., responded with a nifty pump fake that led to his successful triple with :00.1 seconds left, giving the Cougars their FIRST and ONLY lead in the game, at the buzzer.  The Indians were 28-57 (.491) from the floor; the Cougars were 30-66 (.455).  LMC was 12-28 (.429) from long range and 6-8 (.750) from the FT line.  KVCC shot 6-22 (.273) from behind the arc and 9-12 (.750) from the charity stripe.  The Indians had 16 assists and 14 turnovers; the Cougars had 19 assists and only 10 turnovers.  KVCC out-rebounded LMC 35-33.

Coach's Comments:  "I've said many times that basketball games are often decided by inches and split seconds.  Tonight that statement was literally true!  I thought that we had been outplayed--barely--throughout the contest, but we hung around and somehow managed to get the ball back for the last shot.  Daniel had a desperation three that was off the mark at Grand Rapids in early January.  This time he was more prepared to do what had to be done.  He made a great fake and got set for the biggest shot of his KVCC career.  Kyle Laker was solid tonight going 6-6 from the floor and grabbing 7 rebounds to tie Paul Griffith for team honors in that department.  Despite never leading until the buzzer, we never gave up.  Paul made some excellent passes, garnering 4 assists, all in the final stanza.  After two tough losses, this was a great win for our program.  And, I cannot say enough for Lake Michigan.  They set the best screens in the league, and they moved the ball tonight as well as any team we've played.  It's a good thing we had the last shot!"

Muskegon 89, Kalamazoo Valley 79     (13-10)     (4-7)     2-7-07     [Box Score]     [23 Game Cumulative Stats]     [11 Game League Stats]

The Jayhawks jumped on KVCC early tonight, sprinting out to a 34-13 lead on a dunk by 6'10" Brian Helgemo at the 7:29 mark.  The Cougars cleared their bench early, returning to the starters who pounded the ball inside for the remainder of the half.  Shooting 13 first half FT's to MCC's 3, the visitors rallied to close the gap to 32-43 at intermission.  Brandon McClary and C. J. Wicker, however, continued their brilliant play after halftime, and again and again beat the Cougar charge back.  The closest the Cougars could get was 50-56 at 12:34 and 53-60 after three straight triples by Paul Griffith, the final one coming at the 10:36 mark.  Wicker led all scorers with 28 on 11-15 (.733) shooting from the floor; McClary was close behind with 25 on 12-19 (.632) shooting.  Khayree Bechem rounded out the Muskegon double-digit scoring with 11.  Emmanuel Beckem grabbed 10 rebounds for MCC; McClary had 9 as the host team out-rebounded the Cougars, 48-41.  Muskegon shot a sizzling 36-66 (.545) against the less than stellar KVCC defense.  KVCC was a coolish 27-74 (.365) from the floor.  Nick Neal led KVCC with 16 while Kevin Ludwig had 14, Paul Griffith 13, Shawn Carter 11, and Daniel Gay, Jr. 10.  KVCC finished with 13 assists and 11 turnovers; MCC had 17 assists and 17 turnovers.  Valley was 6-20 (.300) from behind the arc to Muskegon's 4-11 (.364).  The Cougars did manage to go 19-29 (.655) from the charity stripe, out-scoring the Jayhawks from the line by 6.  MCC was 13-22 (.591) from the FT line.

Coach's Comments:  "It's games like these that make coaches wonder why they coach.  We prepared defensively for this game with rigor and intensity; yet we started a step late and out-of-sync at both ends of the floor.  They did what they wanted on offense, and we couldn't generate any offense ourselves.  As I said to the Gazette reporter after the game, 'Our offense was poor, and our defense was worse.'  Wicker and McClary had stellar games as their squad took full advantage of their offensive skills with nifty passing and solid screening.  On the bright side, Nick played solid, garnering 4 assists and not committing a turnover in 28:51 of action.  And, to our credit, we did not give up.  The hole we dug at the start was simply too big to get out of.  Our shot selection early was very poor, and our defense was non-existent.  We are still searching for some better chemistry on offense and some good communication on defense."

Kellogg 74, Kalamazoo Valley 69     (13-9)     (4-6)     2-2-07     [Box Score]     [22 Game Cumulative Stats]     [10 Game League Stats]

The league-leading Bruins came into Kalamazoo tonight and after a tense slugfest featuring 7 lead changes in the first half, the Cougars went into intermission with a slender 32-31 lead.  The game would reveal 5 more lead changes and 13 ties before Joshua Young's 19' jumper with 5:08 left gave Kellogg a 64-62 lead that would hold up for the win.  The Cougars were able to close it to 67-70 on a Daniel Gay, Jr., 3-pointer with 34 ticks left, and again to 69-72 on a Nick Neal lay-up with :10 left, but solid FT shooting kept the visitors on top for good.  The nation's 2nd best rebounder, Toriano Adams, grabbed 15 boards and point guard Jerome Douglas grabbed 12 to lead Kellogg to a 45-41 edge on the glass.  Adams is averaging 15.4 caroms for all games.  Joseph Young led Kellogg in scoring again with 17; Josh Young had 15; Douglas chipped in 13; and Cortney Smith scored 10 for the balanced Bruin attack.  KVCC was led by Kyle Laker's 15; Gay was the only other double-figure scorer with 10.  Kellogg shot 24-57 (.421) from the field; the Cougars could only manage 26-70 (.371). After going 0-2 from the line in the opening stanza, Kellogg shot 22-31 from the same spot in the second half, finishing 22-33 for .667 from the charity stripe.  KVCC could only get to the line 16 times, making 9 for a dismal .563.  Kellogg had 13 assists and 19 turnovers; the Valley had 16 assists and 18 turnovers.

Coach's Comments:  "Another frustrating loss primarily because of poor ball handling!  We took such good care of the ball in the Grand Rapids game (only 9 turnovers) that I expected more of the same.  But tonight, the turnover bug bit us again as we committed 18.  When we combine that with poor outside shooting (.371), the loss is inevitable.  I thought our defense tonight was similar to what  we played against GRCC, but we just made so many poor decisions with the ball, that we could not get the win.  Kyle Laker played a solid game offensively, but almost everyone else struggled, as witnessed by their shooting percentages.  We will have to pass the ball more efficiently and move more crisply without the ball to be able to generate a more consistent offense.  It's on to Muskegon next Wednesday night to see if we do that in order to move up a bit in the league standings."

Kalamazoo Valley 92, Grand Rapids 77     (13-8)     (4-5)     1-31-07     [Box Score]     [21 Game Cumulative Stats]     [9 Game League Stats]

The nation's number 4 ranked team, sporting a 17-1 record, visited the Cougar gym tonight, and the battle was intense and spirited, but after Nick Neal dropped in his second triple with 14:48 remaining to give KVCC a 10-8 lead, the Cougars never trailed again.  The Raiders kept it close throughout, but a career performance by Cougar freshman, Shawn Carter, and a balanced offensive attack kept the Raiders at bay this time.  Carter finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds for KVCC while freshman point guard Nick Neal chipped in with 15 (3 of 4 threes) and 6 assists to only one turnover.  Daniel Gay, Jr., scored 12 and Kevin Ludwig and Paul Griffith each rounded out the double figure scoring for KVCC with 10 apiece.  Laker had 9 rebounds and Griffith 7 for KVCC.  Derek Brooks grabbed 12 and 6'9" Terry Walker grabbed 10 boards to lead the visitors to a slender 55-53 margin.  KVCC shot a modest 30-74 (.405) from the floor, but their defense held GRCC to a cold 22-77 (.286) from the field.  The Raiders were even colder with 3-26 (.115) shooting from behind the arc; KVCC was 6-14 for a respectable .429.  There were 76 free throws shot in the game with GRCC making 30-41 (.732) and KVCC 26-35 (.743).  KVCC had 16 assists to only 9 turnovers.  GRCC finished with 7 assists and 13 turnovers.  Kyle Laker also blocked a game high 4 shots.

Coach's Comments:  "I thought there were two major statistical factors in tonight's win.  The first is the fact that we had a season best Defensive Field Goal Percentage (.286), and the second is that we 'only' allowed 12 points off our turnovers.  We scored 10 points off their turnovers.  Last Saturday Glen Oaks scored 26 points off our turnovers while we only scored 12 off theirs.  Nick took better care of the ball (6 assists, 1 turnover), Kyle almost had a double-double (10 points and 9 rebounds) in only 20:21 of action, and Shawn Carter played his best game yet (26 points, 14 rebounds) in a Cougar uniform. It was a great league win over a very talented and successful team, and I am extremely proud of our players and their unselfish efforts tonight.  We finally played what I thought was two pretty solid halves on the same night.  Now, Friday, with Kellogg coming to town, we'll see if we can demonstrate even more consistency by putting two solid games 'back-to-back'.

Glen Oaks 66, Kalamazoo Valley 56     (12-8)     (3-5)     1-27-07     [Box Score]     [20 Game Cumulative Stats]     [8 Game League Stats]

KVCC jumped out to an early lead this afternoon, but a rash of turnovers and some solid inside board work by 6'6" Cortez Smith and 6'6" Kyle Greene enabled Glen Oaks to battle back to take a slender 30-29 lead into intermission.  The Cougars slowly slipped behind in the final half, but rallied to close the margin to 41-45 on Michael Tilmon's lay-up with 11:37 remaining.  However, a Viking charge, capped by consecutive triples by John Richardson, resulted in a 12-0 spurt to establish the game's largest lead, 57-41 with 6:40 left.  Glen Oaks held KVCC scoreless from 11:37 to 6:23 to acquire the big lead.  The end of the game saw the Vikings make numerous trips to the foul line, making enough free throws to keep the Cougars at 'arm's length'.  Smith finished as the game's top scorer with 15; Cordale Boyd had 13, and Sadelle Moore and Kyle Greene each scored 10.  Greene led GOCC to a 39-36 rebound margin, grabbing a game high 13.  Boyd also had 4 assists and 5 steals.  For the Cougars, it was Shawn Carter leading the way with 14; Paul Griffith finished with 12.  Carter, Griffith, and Tilmon all had 6 rebounds apiece.  Nick Neal dished out 7 assists for KVCC.  Glen Oaks had 15 assists and 17 turnovers; KVCC had 15 assists and 20 turnovers.  The host Vikings shot 26-57 (.456) for the game; KVCC finished 25-62 (.403).  GOCC was 5-15 (.333) from behind the arc, and they were 9-17 (.529) from the charity stripe.  KVCC was 3-13 (.231) from long range and 3-9 (.333) from the line.

Coach's Comments:  "They scored 26 points off our turnovers today, and we scored 12 off theirs.  When they steal the ball and finish with that many transition baskets, they are really hard to beat!  Their defense was a bit better than ours; their rebounding was a bit better; they shot the ball a bit better; they had a few fewer turnovers; and they made 6 more free throws.  Even a casual observer would conclude that they just outplayed us today.  I credit their defense because they forced so many turnovers (20) while still holding us to .364 shooting in the 2nd half.  Our half court defense was ok, but they simply beat us in transition too often.  Smith and Greene hurt us inside and Richardson's consecutive triples stopped our charge effectively at the 7:48 mark.  It's not going to get any easier, as we play two of the nation's finest NJCAA Division II teams in our gym next week.  Grand Rapids, Wednesday's opponent, is ranked number 1 in the nation this week, and Kellogg just defeated them 102-88 at Kellogg.  They are tied for the league lead at 7-1, and both have beaten us already, albeit in very close games.  This week will show us how much we have learned and been able to apply to our game since we played them earlier."

Kalamazoo Valley 82, Ancilla 66     (12-7)     (3-4)     1-24-07     [Box Score]     [19 Game Cumulative Stats]     [7 Game League Stats]

Employing a stifling defense and holding the host Ancilla Chargers to 3-22 (.136) shooting from the floor, the visiting Cougars rolled out to a 38-15 halftime advantage tonight.  The the Chargers came roaring back, dropping 6 threes, the 6th one by Radosav Babic, and a 15' jumper by Ethan McNary to cap a 39-22 Ancilla run and close the lead to 54-60 with 6:48 left before the Cougar ship righted itself.  Ancilla was led by Mike Russell's 17; Babic scored 14, and McNary 13.  Shawn Carter, taking advantage of his first start of the year, led KVCC with 19 points behind 7-9 from the floor and 5-6 from the line.  Shawn also grabbed 7 rebounds as KVCC out-rebounded the Chargers 53-35.  Kyle Laker's 8 led all rebounders; Paul Griffith added 7 to the Cougar cause.  Dejan Nedelkovski led Ancilla with 6.  Daniel Gay, Jr., finished with 14; Kevin Ludwig and Paul Griffith each chipped in 10.    Ludwig added 6 assists to the winning effort as well.  KVCC shot 29-64 (.453) for the game to Ancilla's 23-62 (.371).  The Cougars were 3-12 (.250) from behind the arc; Ancilla was 8-25 (.320).  From the FT line it was KVCC 21-34 (.618) to Ancilla's 12-19 (.632).

Coach's Comments:  "I was delighted with our intensity and our decision making in the first half tonight.  But the mystery is how quickly both left us at the start of the second stanza!  We committed 9 turnovers in the final half and we blew a 23 point halftime margin and had to fight to gain control of the end game.  To give up 15 points in one half and 51 in another is very unusual, but this has been an unusual year.  Our battle remains finding how to be consistent.  For this team, the 'edge' is so hard to get and so easy to lose.  We had 22 assists and 15 turnovers, so our ball movement was pretty good tonight.  It was a good road win.  Now we have played all league teams and are 3-4 the first time around.  We'll see if we can improve on that in the second half."  

Lansing 86, Kalamazoo Valley 78     (11-7)     (2-4)     1-19-07     [Box Score]     [18 Game Cumulative Stats]     [6 Game League Stats]

Corey Lucas popped in back-to-back triples in 1:15 tonight and Andy Clark added another at the 18:18 mark to give Lansing a 9-0 lead, large enough to hold on for the 8-point margin of victory at game's end.  The Cougars managed to battle back to 30-32 on a Daniel Gay, Jr., lay-up with 2:05 left in the half, but Lansing spurted again with a 7-0 run to finish the half up 39-32.  The final half was all catch-up basketball for KVCC, but the closest they could get was 57-60 (9:28) on a James Partee triple and again to 66-69 (4:48) on another Gay lay-up.  Behind some superlative FT shooting by Herschal Rodgers--22 of 24--Lansing held on for the win.  Overall they were a sparkling 34-38 (.895) from the FT line!  That phenomenal feat, coupled with 10-21 (.476) shooting from behind the arc was enough to keep the Cougars from ever taking the lead.  Lansing finished 21-52 (.404) from the floor overall.  The Stars were led by Rodgers' 30 while Andre Collins-Riddle was the only other double-figure scorer for LCC with 12.  Lansing out-rebounded KVCC 36-28 with Jordan LeuVoy grabbing 10 and Rodgers 8.  The Cougars well-balanced attack featured 5 players in double digits: Nick Neal (16), Kevin Ludwig (15), Gay (14), Kyle Laker (10), and Shawn Carter (10).  The balance was not enough to offset the spectacular performance by Rodgers.  KVCC finished the game 27-57 (.474) from the floor.  LCC had 10 assists and 12 turnovers; KVCC dished out 21 assists and had only 9 turnovers for the game.

Coach's Comments:  "We didn't have an answer for Rodgers tonight.  He was a key factor in fouling out, first, Paul Griffith, then Shawn Carter, and finally Michael Tilmon.  Rodgers is only 6'0" tall, but his team was superb at getting him the ball where he was most effective.  When we tried to help out, he kicked the ball out for a three and his teammates delivered.  We had 6 more field goals than they did and we shot a season best 17-21 (.810) from the foul line, but Rodgers again and again kept us at bay.  I really thought that aside from the outstanding FT shooting, however, the keys to the game were our start and our finish of the first half.  We're just not good enough at this time to overcome a 0-9 start and a 0-7 finish to a half.  That's a 16 point difference in those 4 minutes of action!  Aside from those 4 minutes, we played as well as we have in any league game yet.  Our shooting was consistent half-by-half (.458 and .485), we shot FT's much better (.810), and we, for the first time this year had 20 assists and single digit (9) turnovers.  These are all offensive goals we have established and we were able to meet them.  Add to these the balanced scoring, Nick Neal's season high 16 with 7 assists, and Kevin Ludwig's 6 assists and only 1 turnover, and on a normal night, we would have earned a victory.  But this was anything but a normal night of league play.  Credit must be given to LCC for exploiting our weaknesses defensively, and credit also must be extended to Herschal Rodgers for some terrific FT shooting to earn the Stars the road win."  

Kalamazoo Valley 82, Lake Michigan 67     (11-6)     (2-3)     1-17-07     [Box Score]     [17 Game Cumulative Stats]     [5 Game League Stats]

Behind balanced scoring and tight defense, a triple by James Partee established a 20-7 Cougar lead tonight at the 11:40 mark in the initial stanza.  The Indians, however, owned the remainder of the half as KVCC wilted and left the floor tied at 32, despite 16 Indian turnovers.  Both teams settled down in the final half, with the Cougars nursing a small lead until the final 5 minutes.  Fouled on a three-point attempt, Tyler Weaver closed the gap to 58-62 with 3 charity tosses at 5:04, but a triple by Kevin Ludwig seconds later extended the lead back to seven and KVCC controlled the end game.  Kyle Laker sparked the Cougars with a season high 18 on 7-9 shooting.  Kyle also grabbed 9 rebounds and blocked 5 shots.  Daniel Gay, Jr., chipped in 14, Shawn Carter 13, and Paul Griffith 10 to balance out the Cougar scoring.  KVCC shot a cool 11-31 (.355) in the opening stanza, but rebounded to shoot a torrid 19-34 (.559) in the closing stanza to finish a respectable 30-65 (.462) for the game.  Lake Michigan was led by Anthony Graves' 12, Wes Booth's 11, and LaJuan Barlow's 10.  The Indians finished 24-63 (.381) from the floor, managing only 10-34 (.294) in the final half.  Graves led LMC with 5 assists while Booth was the game's top rebounder with 12.  LMC out-rebounded KVCC, 44-42.  

Coach's Comments:  "I was pleased with the way we started the game tonight, but very unhappy with the way we played the last 11 minutes of the first half.  As all struggling teams reveal, we have not yet been able to build the consistency we need.  We must get better play off the bench in future games.  There were, however, some bright spots tonight.  One is the fact that we had 18 assists to 14 turnovers, an area that has been reversed too often this season.  Another is our 55.9% shooting in the last half while holding them to 29.4% shooting from the floor.  We still did not shoot well from the line (16-26 = .615) but we did get to the line 26 times on the road.  Kevin came to life in the second half, scoring all 7 of his points in the final 20 minutes, and Daniel was again solid offensively throughout the game.  We must now see if we can put two solid halves together against Lansing Friday night."  

Muskegon 76, Kalamazoo Valley 68     (10-6)     (1-3)     1-12-07     [Box Score]     [16 Game Cumulative Stats]     [4 Game League Stats]

With both teams playing sluggishly in the opening half, Muskegon managed to hang on to a slender 34-31 lead at the break tonight.  Brandon McClary and C. J. Wicker led Muskegon with 9 each in the first half.  Khayree Bechem joined them with 13 second half points to pace the Jayhawks.  The Cougars were able to close to within one, 41-42 on a Kevin Ludwig triple with 14:25 remaining.  A triple by Wicker, a duece by Wicker, and another triple by Josh Wright capped an 8-0 Jayhawk run to carve a hole from which the Cougars would not emerge.   A steal and a lay-up by Eric Brown would bring KVCC back to 60-66 with 1:40 remaining, but as time ran out Muskegon held on for the big league win on the road.  The Jayhawks finished the game 29-60 (.483) from the floor; KVCC shot a cold 28-74 (.378).  Muskegon was 10-13 (.769) from the FT line while the host team could only manage 7-14 (.500).  Long range shooting honors also went to MCC (8-19 for .421) to KVCC's 5-24 (.208).  MCC had 16 assists and 17 turnovers; KVCC had only 11 assists and 16 turnovers.  KVCC had 50 rebounds to Muskegon's 37.  Michael Tilmon led all rebounders with 10; Kyle Laker had 9.  McClary led MCC on the boards with 8.

Coach's Comments:  "We came out flat tonight and were lucky to be only 3 down at the break.  Credit Khayree Bechem, C. J. Wicker, and Brandon McClary with outstanding performances.  When 3 players score 20 or more against us, we usually can rack up the game in the loss column.  I was appalled at our defensive cohesiveness tonight.  From the beginning we simply did not play with the aggressiveness necessary to get control of a game in our league.  What tonight showed us was how far we have to go to become a good team.  Our passing, shooting, and most of all, defense, as a team, will have to improve dramatically for us to have a chance to bounce back in league action.  Disappointment is not a strong enough word to express how I feel, but I refuse to despair.  We will continue to try to learn about mental discipline and toughness, and to acquire what it takes to make a team successful in the win-loss column at this level.  Because of the assurance that our players will work hard in the future, I will not lose hope that we can improve."

Kellogg 89, Kalamazoo Valley 85     (OT)     (10-5)     (1-2)     1-10-07     [Box Score]     [15 Game Cumulative Stats]     [3 Game League Stats]

This one was tight the first half, with KVCC staking an early lead and nursing it to 10 points at the half (42-32) behind 17-32 (.531) shooting from the floor.  Kellogg's leading scorer, Joseph Young, revved his game up the second half, however, exploding for 24 points to finish the game's top scorer with 31.  The lead changed hands 7 times and the game was tied 6 times as the teams battled hard for the win.  Daniel Gay's triple with :59 left in regulation knotted the score at 77, and no more scoring followed until the overtime.  Joseph Young stepped to center stage in the OT, scoring Kellogg's last 7 points in the last 2:08.  KVCC moved the ball around to get an open triple with :12 remaining and the score 87-85 Kellogg.  Ludwig's attempt bounced off and Joseph Young grabbed his 10th rebound before being fouled.  KVCC finished the game 33-71 (.465) from the field; KCC was 35-85 (.412).  Neither team shot well from behind the arc with the Cougars going 6-24 (.25) and the Bruins 4-17 (.235).  The rebounding war went to Kellogg, 54-45 with Toriano Adams' 14 leading the way.  Michael Tilmon and Kyle Laker each had 10 for KVCC.  Kellogg was paced by Young's 31 while Joshua Young had 14 and Adams 13.  Paul Griffith led KVCC with 22; Gay finished with 15; Ludwig had 13 and Laker and Nick Neal each pitched in 10 to round out the double-figure scoring.

Coach's Comments:  "This game could be titled 'Heartbreak Hotel' for the Cougars.  We played well enough to make it exciting, but in the end it was our inefficient ball-handling--we had 23 turnovers!--and our lack of controlling the boards, that did us in.  They are an excellent team in transition, and they exploited our inability to take care of the ball to the fullest extent.  Joseph Young is as good in the open court as any player in the entire region, and we let him get out on the fast break far too often.  It was a physical game as usual with Kellogg, but their 23 offensive rebounds dwarfed our 12 by comparison.  Many of the put-backs came directly off their missed shots on the break.  But in the final analysis, just as in our game at Grand Rapids last Friday, the game came down to a big play or two at the right time; they made that play; we didn't.  Credit Joseph Young for a spectacular night; we simply could not contain him in the open court, especially down the stretch.  Daniel Gay, Jr., played courageously with a sprained ankle, and others off the bench, Shawn Carter and Nick Neal especially, contributed heavily to our effort tonight.  In only 48 hours we'll be back in action in our league so we must 'pick up the pieces', learn as much as we possibly can, and move on."

Grand Rapids 78, Kalamazoo Valley 75     (10-4)     (1-1)     1-5-07     [Box Score]     [14 Game Cumulative Stats]     [2 Game League Stats]

Daniel Gay's triple capped an early run for the Cougars by putting the visitors up 24-7 at the 13:11 mark tonight.  However, the Raiders warmed up from that point on and dominated play 34-14 to go into the locker room with a slender 41-38 edge.  GRCC inched ahead in the final stanza, pushing their biggest lead to 62-53 at the 10:22 mark.  The Cougars battled back to take the lead 73-70 again on Kevin Ludwig's triple with 3:43 left.  A driving lay-up by Ludwig with 1:24 remaining gave KVCC a 75-72 lead, but one free throw by Derek Brooks, a missed KVCC free throw, and a basket by Mario Scott with :27 left gave the Raiders the lead for good, 76-75.  ByLynn Hatcher hit two more FT's with :13 left to give GRCC the 3-point margin.  A desperation triple by Gay at the buzzer was wide of the mark, giving the unbeaten and 6th ranked Raiders the win.  Covier Carter led all scorers with 27, 19 in the first half; Hatcher chipped in 10.  Gay and Ludwig led KVCC again with 18 each; Kyle Laker and Paul Griffith each had 10.  KVCC out-rebounded GRCC 44-42 with Michael Tilmon's 9 leading the way.  Terry Walker led GRCC with 9.  The winners shot 31-68 (.456) from the floor; KVCC shot 26-68 (.382).  KVCC was 13-15 (.867) from the charity stripe; GRCC was 9-14 (.643).  GRCC had 9 blocked shots to KVCC's 2, and the Cougars made 15 turnovers to the Raiders' 13.

Coach's Comments:  "So close and yet so far!  We came out of the blocks hard tonight, surging to a 17 point lead.  However, we were well aware that GRCC had fallen 18 behind Kellogg Wednesday and 16 behind Mott earlier in the year, but had come back strong to win both of those games, so we were not lulled into any false confidence.  What did happen, however, was that we were not able to convert several penetration attempts and they kicked the ball out quickly for their patented fast break offense.  They are averaging 93+ points per game and can really give a team fits with their athleticism on the break.  The thing I was most proud of was our comeback from being down 9 with 10:22 left and actually staking a 3 point lead with under 4 to go!  We did not quit.  We demonstrated some of the toughness that we've been striving for, and we gave them all we had.  Kevin dropped in 5 big points with under 4 to go and it is sad that his 1-and-1 FT attempt went in and out at the :37 mark.  Both of those points would have given us a 3-point lead with under a minute.  But big games are often decided by split seconds and fractions of an inch and they made their FT's down the stretch to seal the win.  Perhaps the most encouraging part of the evening is the fact that our players now know that they can play with the best.  Grand Rapids is still undefeated and ranked 6th in the nation.  They own impressive wins over perennial powers Mott and Schoolcraft as well as Wednesday night's win over Kellogg.  We are playing better, but we have to do some of the small things a bit better yet, and we have to have stronger performances from our bench to realize our full potential as a team.  We're back to work Monday to get ready for what I think is Kellogg's best team in the past five seasons."

Kalamazoo Valley 74, Glen Oaks 67    (10-3)     (1-0)     1-03-07     [Box Score]     [13 Game Cumulative Stats]

The league battles begin!  The visiting Vikings jumped out to an early lead and a triple by Sadelle Moore stretched the lead to 33-21 with 5:11 left in the opening stanza.  The Cougar defense came to life, however, holding Glen Oaks scoreless the rest of the half to close to 30-33 at the intermission.  A back-and-forth struggle followed as the evenly matched teams were tied 8 times while the lead changed 3 times.  A layup by Paul Griffith knotted the game at 59 with 3:59 remaining and a nifty bank shot by Daniel Gay, Jr. gave KVCC a 61-59 edge at the 3:35 mark.  Another free throw by Griffith extended the lead to 62-59 with 2:53 remaining, and the parade to the free throw line began.  Gay led all scorers with 21; Griffith added 14 and Kevin Ludwig chipped in 11 for the Cougars.  Kyle Greene led Glen Oaks with 18; Cordale Boyd and Moore each had 14.  The Cougars shot 22-52 (.423) from the floor, including 14-25 (.560) in the second half.  Glen Oaks finished the game 29-60 (.420) from the floor.  The rebounding battle went to Glen Oaks, 46-35; KVCC shot 25-42 (.595) from the charity stripe while GOCC went 4-8 (.500).

Coach's Comments:  "League games are so much fun!  This  was a great win for us.  The game was a classic example of the struggle for 'end-game control'.  The ball bounced our way tonight and we were able to shoot 16 free throws in the last 2:07.  We did not shoot well from the line, missing 17 of 42, but we got there enough that it didn't cost us the game.  I thought the 9-0 run at the end of the first half was a key segment.  It was sparked by Nick Neal, Eric Brown, James Partee, and Shawn Carter, and the intensity carried over into the second half.  This league again is filled with teams that can beat each other on any given night.  Becoming a contender requires victories in tight games.  We did not pass the ball well tonight and our free throw shooting was atrocious but somehow we managed to make the big plays down the stretch, and for that I am most grateful!We have one day to prepare for Grand Rapids, who is now ranked 6th in the nation and stands as the only unbeaten team in the MCCAA."  

Kalamazoo Valley 75, Clark State 63     (9-3)     12-16-06     [Box Score]     [12 Game Cumulative Stats]

A triple by James Partee with :02 left in the first half capped a 13-4 run to push the Cougars to a 40-28 halftime lead this afternoon.  The Cougars were able to take advantage of balanced scoring to extend the lead to 52-31 at the 14:14 mark of the final half, and although the Eagles were not ready to concede the game, they also were not able to get closer than 10 points the remainder of the way.  Paul Griffith led the way with 11 points; Nick Neal had 10.  Martez Scales and Jordan Skinner each had 11 for Clark State.  The Eagles finished shooting 26-71 (.366) from the floor; the Cougars were 29-69 (.420).  From behind the arc, Clark State was 7-28 (.250) and KVCC was 7-21 (.333).  The Cougars out-rebounded the visitors 50-42 with Kyle Laker leading the way with 9.  Scales led Clark State with 11; Skinner had 9.  KVCC was cool from the stripe, going 10-18 (.556); Clark State was 4-6 (.667).

Coach's Comments:  "Today's game was a contrast in styles.  Clark pressed and trapped a lot and we tried to defend mostly inside the arc.  Although we committed 14 turnovers, we we able to hold them under 40% shooting from the floor.  I thought that not putting them at the line much (6 FT's) was a key for us.  We had a 6 point advantage from the charity stripe.  We rotated 12 players in and out this afternoon, and everyone, for the most part, played pretty solid at both ends.  Our balance was, I think, the key to the win.  We are off until December 27.  Merry Christmas to all!"

Cornerstone JV's 77, Kalamazoo Valley 76     (8-3)     12-15-06     [Box Score]     [11 Game Cumulative Stats]    

Despite cold shooting in the opening stanza, KVCC managed to hold the Golden Eagles to 11-29 (.379) from the floor and 0-7 from long range to post a 34-25 halftime advantage.  The Cougars nursed that lead until midway in the final stanza when the visiting squad from Cornerstone went on a 9-0 tear.  Seven lead changes followed with Kevin Ludwig's triple giving the Cougars the lead 76-74 with :18 left in the game.  Ryan Zweir's triple with :06 remaining trumped Ludwig's triple to give Cornerstone the lead for good.  A desperation try ended the closely matched contest with the Golden Eagles victorious for the 5th time in 8 games.  Matt Kingshot led all scorers with 19; Jeremy Vorhees tossed in 14 and Zweir and Rory Jiliffe each had 13.  KVCC won the rebound battle, 50-43, with Daniel Gay's 10 leading the way.  Ludwig led KVCC in scoring with 12; Kyle Laker and Paul Griffith chipped in 11 apiece, and Gay and reserve forward Jay Thompson each had 10.  Corbin Donaldson contributed 8 assists and had no turnovers in 29 minutes of action for the Golden Eagles.  Cornerstone finished 30-64 (.469) on the strength of 19-35 (.543) second half shooting.  The Valley finished 28-79 (.354) from the floor.  Cornerstone was 5-9 from behind the arc in the 2nd half, finishing 5-16 (.313) while the host school team finished 9-28 (.321).

Coach's Comments:  "I thought this game boiled down to second half execution for Cornerstone and a lack of interior defense for us.  They moved the ball well, selected their shots well, and generally controlled the second half, scoring 51 points to go with their 26 in the opening stanza.  This 'fading' away has hurt us before, especially in our recent losses to Lakeland and Kennedy-King.  Our main scoring threats on the season all had poor shooting nights, putting us at a severe disadvantage in the game.  We're not going to beat many folks shooting 35% from the floor.  We'll continue to try to tighten our defense down, but we also must strive for more offensive consistency.  The unsung hero of the game, in my mind, was their point guard Corbin Donaldson, who engineered 8 assists while not making one turnover--a quiet, but impressive performance.  In spite of all of this, the game came down to two big shots, one by Ludwig with :18 left to give us the edge, and the last one by Zweir with only :06 remaining, giving them the edge and victory."

Kennedy-King 73, Kalamazoo Valley 65     (8-2)     12-6-06     [Box Score]     [10 Game Cumulative Stats]

The Cougars came ready to play tonight as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead behind behind two treys (Griffith and Ludwig) and a fast-break lay-up (Tilmon).  A lay-up by Daniel Gay, Jr., gave the Cougars their largest lead of the game, 26-16, with 7:53 on the clock.  The Statesmen, however, controlled the last 4:41 of the half, outscoring KVCC 13-4 to knot the score, 36-36, at halftime.  KVCC shot a blistering 15-21 (.714) from the floor in the opening stance, but multiple turnovers (15) enabled the Statesmen to stay even.  The see-saw second half saw 8 lead changes and both teams battled for end-game control.  With the score tied, 61-61, and 2:55 remaining, Aramis Brown drilled a 24' triple off an out-of-bounds play to stake end-game advantage, 64-61, Statesmen.  A loose ball foul called at the 1:32 mark enabled Kennedy-King to stretch their advantage to 66-61, and the rest of the game saw desperation attempts by the Cougars and FT's by the Statesmen.  Brown led all scorers with 24; David Wilson had 14, Thomas Shumpert 12, and Tyrone Dunlap 11.  Gay was the lone Cougar in double-figures with 14.  The rebound war went to KVCC, 38-38 with Michael Tilmon grabbing 9.  Wilson led KKC with 11.  KVCC finished the game shooting 27-56 (.482); KKC was 24-64 (.375).  The Statesmen converted 19 of 25 FT's for .760 while the Cougars could only manage 4-10 (.400) from the FT line.  Valley had 19 assists and 22 turnovers; KKC finished with 13 assists and only 9 turnovers.

Coach's Comments:  "This was another frustrating loss for us, much like the loss to Lakeland (OH) last Saturday.  We started well and faded just before half, then rebounded to take a 60-54 lead with 7:38 remaining, only to fade again with careless ball handling and poor shot selection down the stretch.  Kennedy-King is a quality Division I NJCAA team with a 9-1 record, but we were able to play even with them for most of the game.  We need a stronger inside game offensively, and we need to stop giving teams easy baskets because of turnovers.  They out-scored us 25-8 off turnovers, a statistic that tells the story of the game.  We will continue to work hard in practice to be better organized and stronger with the ball.  In the other areas we are improving!"

Kalamazoo Valley 77, Milwaukee Area Tech 59     (8-1)     12-3-06     [Box Score]     [9 Game Cumulative Stats]

Behind some solid team defense, the Cougars slipped out to a 37-27 halftime lead in this one.  The Stormers from Milwaukee shot only 12-34 (.353) from the floor in the opening half.  The Cougars also only turned the ball over 4 times in the first 20 minutes of action, a great improvement from Saturday's game.    Michael Tilmon again led KVCC on the glass, grabbing 11; Kyle Laker chipped in 10 and James Partee 7 caroms.  Tech's Joshua Rawley led all players with 14 rebounds and 21 points on 10-15 shooting from the field.  Kevin Ludwig, sporting 7-9 shooting, scored 19 and Daniel Gay, Jr., 13, and reserve Eric Brown 11 to pace KVCC in scoring.  Milwaukee finished the game 24-67 (.358) from the floor, while KVCC shot 28-70 (.400).  The Wisconsin squad misfired from three point range, shooting a paltry 1-12 (.083), while KVCC was 9-21 (.429) from long range.  Valley won the rebounding battle by a slender 47-44 margin.

Coach's Comments:  "This was not one of our better offensive games as I thought we settled for the long shot much too often.  Our bench outscored them 29-16 to help seal the win.  The best part of the night was our defense, an area we are striving to improve in.  Also noteworthy in this game is the fact that our point guards, Kevin Ludwig and Nick Neal combined for 10 assists and NO turnovers.  We had a few stretches in the second half where we played steady offensively, a sight that pleases me to watch!  I think we're getting better, ever so gradually.  Next Wednesday's game against perennial power Kennedy-King should provide still another indication of the progress or lack of same that we have made."

Lakeland (OH) 82, Kalamazoo Valley 72     (7-1)     12-2-06     [Box Score]     [8 Game Cumulative Stats]

The 14th ranked Lakers from Mentor, Ohio, traveled 250 miles farther but left a day earlier than the Cougars from Kalamazoo, Michigan.  It appeared that the additional rest paid off for the Lakers, as they battled to a 38-30 halftime lead on what appeared to be "fresher legs."  In this battle of unbeaten teams, the Cougars did not go away easily, however, as they closed to within 68-71 on a Paul Griffith layup with 2:40 remaining.  A Sam Liggins' triple and a Darnell Johnson lay-up off consecutive KVCC turnovers, however, pushed the margin to 76-68 and Lakeland coasted home with the win.  Jerial Nixon led Lakeland with 24 while Liggins and Ryan Jackson chipped in 18 and 16 respectively.  Johnson rounded out the well-balanced Laker attack with 11.  KVCC was led by Daniel Gay, Jr.'s, 14; James Partee came off the bench for 13, and Kyle Laker and Kevin Ludwig each had 10.  Michael Tilmon led all rebounders with 13, to help post a 56-39 rebound margin for the Cougars.  Griffith and Gay each had 9 boards; Johnson led the Ohio squad with 11; Nixon grabbed 9.  The Cougars shot a coolish 30-77 (.390) for the game while Lakeland was 30-71 (.423).  KVCC committed 22 turnovers to only 12 for the Lakers.

Coach's Comments:  "We had no answer for Jerial Nixon in the opening half as he scorched us for 19 of their 38 points.  We managed to slow him down a bit in the 2nd half, but each time we closed the margin, we seemed to make an untimely turnover.  They have tremendous quickness and were able to force us into mistakes, converting those mistakes for 18 points.  Without taking anything from Lakeland, I must say that I felt that we mishandled the ball so many times that we did not deserve the win.  Our offense was much better in the second half, 17-35 (.486) to 13-42 (.310), and we crashed the boards hard, but simply stated, we gave them far too many easy conversion baskets because of careless ball handling and passing.  It was a disappointing loss, to say the least, but my hope is that we will grow stronger from the experience."

Kalamazoo Valley 87, Calvin College (JV) 51     (7-0)    11-29-06     [Box Score]     [7 Game Cumulative Stats]

Tonight's game was one of contrasts.  After a tight first half, the Cougars still could not distance themselves from the Knights in the first 9 minutes of the second stanza.  However, with the score 49-42 at the 11:10 mark, KVCC exploded for a 38-9 run to finish the game impressively.  Daniel Gay, Jr., led the balanced Cougar attack with 22; Paul Griffith chipped in 14; and Michael Tilmon, Jonathan Brown, and J. T. VanDyke each had 10.  Kevin Ludwig scored 9 and had 5 of the Cougars' 18 assists.  Griffith led all rebounders with 8 as KVCC won the rebound battle, 42-32.  The Cougars shot 38-72 (.528) for the game (22-36 for .611 in the final stanza).  Calvin finished 21-58 (.362) for the contest.  Josh Engelsma led Calvin with 20 points and 5 rebounds.

Coach's Comments:  "In this game we displayed the opposite of what we have in our two previous games.  That is, we played very well down the stretch, rather than sputtering to hold on to a slim lead.  Our ability to tighten up on defense in the last 11 minutes of the game forced numerous Calvin turnovers that resulted in many fast break opportunities.  We were concerned about their passing skills, but we managed to grab 12 steals while achieving 18 assists to their 9.  We also were concerned about their rebounding strength, but we were able to out-rebound them 42-32.  And, finally, we were very concerned about their three point shooting accuracy, but we were able to hold them to 2-15 (.133) from behind the arc, while shooting 6-15 (.400) ourselves.  Jonathan Brown again gave us a steady game off the bench.  And J. T. VanDyke, coming off of a severe ankle sprain, played in his first game as a Cougar, scoring 10 points in 9:17 minutes of action.  All-in-all it was a good night for us.  Now we head to Freeport, IL, to play in a tournament at Highland CC that will have the best talent we have seen yet this year.  Our first round opponent is Lakeland CC (OH), a team that is 5-0 and currently ranked 14th in the nation in the NJCAA Division II polls.  We will have an opportunity to show how much we have improved since Owens and Schoolcraft blasted us in scrimmages in October."

Kalamazoo Valley 95, Hope College (JV) 81     (6-0)     11-21-06     [Box Score]      [6 Game Cumulative Stats]

Behind some nifty passing and some solid team defense, the Cougars raced out to a 30-12 lead tonight, holding on for a 37-23 halftime edge.  After a Jay Thompson triple that stretched the lead to 52-27, the Flying Dutchmen caught fire, dropping 9-13 threes in the second half, and closing to within 9, 79-88 with :36 left in the game.  Hope shot a paltry 7-28 (.250) in the opening half; then they scorched the nets for 20-35 (.571) in the second stanza, finishing 27-63 (.429) for the night.  KVCC was 14-34 (.412) and 15-30 (.500) finishing 29-64 (.453) from the field.  The well-balanced Cougar attack was led by Daniel Gay, Jr. (21), Paul Griffith (20), Kevin Ludwig (16), Kyle Laker and Jonathan Brown, (11 each).  KVCC shot 7-14 (.500) from behind the arc; Hope was 11-27 (.407).  Griffith led KVCC to a 50-28 rebounding edge, grabbing a game-high 11.  Valley also led with 30-41 (.732) from the FT line; Hope was 16-20 (.800) from the charity stripe.  Daniel Cox led the visitors with 18; Kevin Warren scored 14; Ben VanArendonk 13, and Brandon Bosch 12.   Ludwig led all players with 5 assists.

Coach's Comments:  "For the first 15 minutes tonight, we played like a solid team in our league should.  We moved the ball around better, and we defended much better.  We softened at the end of the first half, and our defense continued to crumble after that.  Fortunately, our offense improved in the final stanza, but we allowed 58 points after holding them to 23 in the first 20 minutes.  We are displaying stretches of good basketball, but we have been unable to date to be tough enough to play solid defense over a long period of time.   Jonathan Brown gave us a huge lift off the bench tonight, shoring up our defensive effort and getting several 'blue collar' inside baskets.  Paul was strong inside again, and Daniel and Kevin were steady as they have been in all games so far.  We'll be off until practice next Monday; then the pace quickens.  Happy Thanksgiving to all who read this."

Kalamazoo Valley 79, Olivet College (JV) 57     (5-0)     11-20-06     [Box Score]     [5 Game Cumulative Stats]

A Kyle Laker putback gave the host school a 2-0 lead tonight, a lead that they would not relinquish.  The Cougars stretched their lead to 35-13 on a Paul Griffith layup with 3:49 left in the half.  KVCC led all the way in this one posting their 5th straight win.  Daniel Gay, Jr. and Griffith led the Cougars in scoring with 19 points each. James Partee chipped in 10.  Kevin Ludwig had a solid game at the point with 9 points, 4 assists, and only 1 turnover.  KVCC led 39-21 at the half and built the margin to 60-30 with 13:08 left on two free throws by reserve Jonathan Brown.   Twelve players played and eleven scored for the Cougars; eleven players also scored for the Comets.  Rob Majors led the way for Olivet with 10.  Valley won the rebound battle, 46-29, with Griffith garnering 11.  The Cougars shot 30-67 (.448) from the floor; Olivet was 22-55 (.400).  The game was Olivet's first JV game of the season.

Coach's Comments:  "I thought the overall performance of our top 6-7 players tonight was solid.  We were able to give significant minutes to our substitutes, however, and generally, I was not pleased with how they responded to the opportunity.  No one played over 25 minutes tonight.  Olivet played hard and refused to give up.  It was a good test for us to develop some badly needed depth.  Jonathan Brown played some solid defense off the bench, and generally our defensive effort in the first half was acceptable.  We held Olivet to 9-26 (.346) shooting the first half; then we slipped by allowing them 13-29 (.448) shooting in the second half.  Our goal is to play the way we must in order to be competitive in our league.  Some players passed that test tonight, but as an entire team, I don't think our unit really passed the test.  We'll have another chance tomorrow night as Hope College will bring another outstanding JV team into the Cougar gym.  We lost to Hope in the new DeVos Arena last December, so we must be ready to jell together in order to turn that loss into a win this time around."

Kalamazoo Valley 63, Alpena 58     (4-0)     11-18-06     [Box Score]     [4 Game Cumulative Stats]

This one was a low-scoring rough and tough inside battle from the start.  With neither team making a three-point shot in the opening stanza, the Cougars were able to slip ahead by 7 after 5 lead changes.  The second half saw 4 more lead changes and 4 more ties.  With the score 53-53 with 3:20 left in the game, Daniel Gay, Jr., nailed a triple and was fouled, and completed the four point play to give the Cougars an edge in the end-game struggle.  A triple by Cory Heier closed the lead to 58-61 with :09 left, but Gay's FT's again sealed the win with :04.3 left.  Gay led the Cougars with 14; Griffith scored 13 for KVCC.  Ryan Burke hit for 14 Lumberjack points; Matt Ponik, Kevin McLoughlin, and Aaron Hincka all had 11 for Alpena.  Alpena out-rebounded the Cougars 47-40 with McLoughlin and Hincka each grabbing 11.  Griffith led the Cougars on the glass with 11.  Alpena finished the game 21-60 (.350); KVCC shot 25-68 (.368) from the floor.  The Cougars were a cool 3-19 (.158) from the arc, and the Lumberjacks were even cooler with 2-19 (.105).  Alpena got to the line 21 times, making 14 (.667) while KVCC was 10-13 (.769) from the stripe.

Coach's Comments:  "Paul was in foul trouble early last night; Michael sat tonight for the same reason.  This was a defensive struggle, and I believe that our defense, while far from outstanding, actually decided the outcome more than any other factor.  We shot poorly, did not get to the line often, and committed 19 turnovers.  Our defense did, however, force 23 Alpena turnovers.  We had 15 steals (Ludwig 5 himself), many of which resulted in easy baskets.  There was no doubt this afternoon that the play off our bench contributed heavily to this victory.  Jay Thompson played his best game as a Cougar, going 4-7 from the floor in limited action.  Antwone Collins also was 3-4 and had 2 steals off the bench.  And Eric Brown gave us some badly needed offense, contributing 5 points and 4 assists during his relief action.  I am delighted to be able to get two wins in this Classic, but we must all realize that given just a few baskets here and there, we could be 0-4 as easily as we are 4-0.  We've got a LOT of improving to do, but I'm pleased with the progress we are making."

Kalamazoo Valley 82, St. Clair County 78     (3-0)     11-17-06     [Box Score]     [3 Game Cumulative Stats]

Another tense see-saw struggle for the Cougars!  Behind the sharp-shooting of Kevin Ludwig (11 points) and Daniel Gay, Jr., (10 points) the visitors from Kalamazoo managed to offset Thad McFadden's 12 first half points to keep the Cougars within striking distance, 39-42 at the intermission.  In a game that featured 19 lead changes, two Daniel Gay FT's with :25.3 seconds left stretched a tenuous lead to 79-76.  A thunderous tip-dunk by Damone Pledger with 12 ticks left closed it again to 78-80, but two more FT's by Gay iced the win for KVCC.  Gay finished with a game-high 22; Ludwig scored 16; Paul Griffith chipped in 14, and Kyle Laker 13.  The well-balanced Skipper attack was led by James Scott with 15; Damone Pledger, McFadden, and Kevin Calahan all had 14.  KVCC shot an impressive 26-52 (.520) from the floor including 8-18 (.444) from behind the arc.  They were less than impressive from the FT line, going 22-33 for .667.  St. Clair finished the game 32-77 (.416) and tossed in 8-26 (.308) from long range.  The Clippers only got to the line 10 times, netting 6.  St. Clair only committed 6 turnovers for the game; KVCC committed 15.  KVCC won the rebounding battle, 44-33, with Michael Tilmon leading the way with a game-high 11; Griffith had 8 and Gay 7.  Pledger led St. Clair with 7.

Coach's Comments:  "I thought the difference tonight was our ability to get through their full court traps for some easy baskets, plus getting to the line 33 times.  They had 6 more field goals than we did, but since we did not foul often, we had a 16 point advantage from the charity stripe.  We got a lift from our bench, especially Nick Neal as he dropped in 5-6 from the line in only 14 minutes of playing time.  It was a good win, because what we needed to do was exactly what we have been practicing doing for the last week or so.  Our fast break was effective tonight, even though we still turned the ball over too many times.  We did manage to get several easy baskets from our press offense.  Daniel and Kevin played tough down the stretch, providing the leadership typical of captains.  St. Clair beat us by 18 in the East/West Classic held last year in our gym, so we are pleased to be able to reverse that this time around."

Kalamazoo Valley 90, Henry Ford 85     (2-0)     11-11-06     [Box Score]     [2 Game Cumulative Stats]

The Hawks from Dearborn jumped out to a 6-2 lead early, but a triple by Kevin Ludwig put the Cougars ahead 8-6 at the 14:49 mark.  Henry Ford battled back to go ahead 23-16 at the 10:30 mark.  A Daniel Gay 3-pointer with 7:33 remaining in the half capped a 10-2 run, giving the Cougars the lead again, 26-25.  The rest of the half was a see-saw battle with KVCC opening a 6 point margin on another Ludwig trey with 8 ticks remaining.  A 25' bank shot by Ali Barada closed the halftime to 41-38 KVCC.  The game saw 9 lead changes, but none in the 2nd stanza.  Two FT's by Henry Ford's Ta'blv Mitchell closed the gap to 77-80 with 3:48 left and another triple by Barada tightened it again at 85-87 with only :23 left.  Two FT's by Daniel Gay, Jr., and one by Nick Neal sealed the win for the Cougars.  Joel Hall led all scorers with 26; Chris Johnson followed with 17, and Barada finished with 13.  Johnson led the Hawks to a slender 35-34 margin on the glass, garnering a team-high 7.  Gay and Ludwig each scored 21 and Paul Griffith dripped in 16 to pace KVCC scoring.  Griffith was the game's top rebounder with 8; Gay had 7.  The Hawks shot 29-59 (.492) from the field and an impressive 7-10 (.700) from behind the arc.  Both teams were a less-than impressive 20-34 (.588) from the FT line.

Coach's Comments:  "We didn't start well today, but we were able to shoot better from the floor to take a slender half time lead.  However, once again, we did not control the lead like we'd like to.  Our biggest margin was 60-47 at the 13:44 mark, but turnovers and poor team defense let them regain the momentum.  The bright spots were our field goal percentage (.582) and the fact that we had 23 assists, compared to only 16 in our first game.  I'd like to believe that we made some progress since our first game.   Time will tell."

Kalamazoo Valley 83, Siena Heights JV's 78  (OT)     (1-0)     11-8-06     [Box Score]           

The Cougars roared out of the blocks tonight, racing, behind solid defense, to a 32-13 lead on a Paul Griffith field goal at the 6:11 mark.  However, a late half surge by the Saints narrowed the margin to 23-36 at the half.  A quick basket by Chris Lorente opened the second stanza and foreshadowed the battle that was unfolding.  The visitors from Adrian chipped away at the Cougar lead until two free throws by Brent Reynolds put them ahead for the first time, 59-58, with 6:15 remaining.  Two Kevin Ludwig FT's a few seconds later made it 60-59 Cougars, and the end-game struggle for control was on!    Shawn Carter's FT at the 2:20 mark made it 69-64 KVCC, and a Daniel Gay triple with 1:43 remaining stretched the margin to 72-66.  The Saints weren't marching home yet, however, as T. J. Witt responded with a triple AND an old-fashioned 3 point play to knot the game at 72.  Neither team could score in the last 30 seconds of the regulation period.  Siena Heights scooted to a 78-74 lead with 3:06 remaining, but another basket by Gay and a layup by Carter knotted it again at 78.    The Cougar defense held and Carter dropped in another FT with :52 left to give the Cougars a slender 79-78 lead.  The Saints did not score in the final 3:05 while Griffith and Carter sealed the deal with 4 more free throws.  Gay led the balanced Cougar attack with 21; Ludwig chipped in 15, Carter 14 and Griffith 11.  Lorente led Siena Heights with 22; Witt had 18 and Terry Shelton scored 13.  Kyle Laker's 9 rebounds led KVCC to a 62-34 rebound advantage in the game.  The Cougars shot 30-75 (.400), while Siena finished 28-68 (.412) from the floor.

Coach's Comments:  "Wow, what a way to start the season!  It's a good thing we started well tonight as they totally outplayed us in the second half.  I was pleased with the way our young players responded, however, when Siena took the lead, both in the second half and in the overtime.  We showed some poise and determination, especially when we were behind by 4 with 3:06 left in the overtime.  We made way too many turnovers tonight, but we got solid play off the bench, especially from Michael Tilmon and Antwone Collins.  We were 2-14 (.143) on threes, but we got to the line 34 times, making 21 (.618).  I thought our three point defense--they were 6-27 (.222)--and our rebounding (28 offensive rebounds) were the deciding statistical reasons for the win.  Overall I was pleased with the effort and togetherness of our young team.  We have a long way to go to become a good league team, but at least we have started with a victory over a solid opponent.  That JV team is going to win a lot of games."