Playing their best game to date the Tigers battled hard, but were unable to come out on top in their final game of the year.  The see-saw battle was very entertaining with each team holding the lead for a time in each half. ” It really was a fun game it was pretty up and down, and it seemed like every time one team made a shot it got matched on the end.”  ” I was proud of my guys, they followed the game plan to perfection. ” We really wanted to pressure them on the ball in the half court and we were able to do that successfully.” Said Coach Oldebekking after the game.  Late in the second half the Panthers hit three pointers on 3 of 4 possessions which ended up being the difference in the game.

12 points 8 assists

The Tigers placed five players in double figures led by Melvin DeVeaux with 18 points followed by Ridge Tefft with 15.  Jordan Byslma had a season high 8 assists in the game.

Coach Oldebekking  talked after the game about this team and the season.  ” Although this season did not go the way we thought that it was going to, these guys never quit and constantly battled.  I told them after the game that selfishly I hope I get to coach them next year, because I had so much fun with them.  They have made an impact on me and my family, and I hope I am in their lives for many years. “

The Tigers put forth a valiant effort last night against a very good Calvin College team eventually succumbing to the big height advantage 73-51.  The Tigers came out of the gates strong and looked like they were in tuned for the upset as they went into the half just down 29-27.  ” We had the game within reach with about 12 minutes to go, but again like in the past we just haven’t been able to maintain the momentum that we had.”  ” I thought we played hard, and followed the game plan pretty well, I think they just wore us down. “  Said Coach Oldebekking after the defeat.

Melvin DeVeaux
12 points

The Tigers were led in scoring by Melvin Deveaux and Karlion Jackson with 12 and 11 points respectively.  The Tigers were out rebounded 30-49 by the much taller Knights.  The Tigers will be playing their final game on Monday February 11th at 7:00pm.  The game will be played the Aldrich Athletic Center.  The game tips at 7:00pm.

Due to a scheduling conflict the JV game at Calvin College has been moved to Wednesday January 30th at 5:15pm.

The GBC JVers put forth a great effort against a very tough Cornerstone JV team, but could not pull out the victory losing 84-70.  In a game where the Tigers went into the locker room down two at 39-37, they couldn’t muster the second half charge to over take the Golden Eagles.

” I had a good feeling about this match up we had a great practice the day before, and we generally match up quite well with them, but we just had to many defensive lapses in the second half.” a dejected Coach Oldebekking shared after the game. ” There were some bright spots we won the rebounding battle 52-31 which is significant, but we just had to many turnovers.”

Karlion Jackson 8 rebounds

The Tigers got a double-double from Aaron Schutte who had 24 points and 10 rebounds, including a nice night from the free throw line going 8-10. Karlion Jackson hit the boards hard getting 8 rebounds from his guard spot.  The Tigers are back in action on January 30th as they travel to Calvin College to take on the Knights.  The game will be played at 5:15.

After a week enjoying the warm weather in Florida, the Tigers had to get right back at it on Monday night playing the Saints of Aquinas College.  As expected it took the Tigers a while to get going as they dug themselves a 14 point hole in the first half.  “  I wasn’t shocked by our start, the guys had a week away and it took some time for them to get in a groove.”  The Tigers went into the locker room down 44-29.  “We always talk to the guys about starting out well in the second half, and today I thought we did that; we quickly knocked the lead down to 8.” Said Coach Oldebekking explained after the game.  The Tigers in fact had the lead down to  6 points twice in the second half, but were never able to crawl closer.  ” Everytime that we made a run they would match it and we just couldn’t completely close the gap.” ” Then in the last 6 minutes we just ran out of gas.”  The final score was 82-64.

The Tigers were led in scoring by Michael Miller and Lucas McKian with 10 points a piece.  The Tigers will be back in action on Thursday as they travel to Cornerstone University the tip off is at 7:00.

Coming off of a two week break the JV Tigers were rested and ready to go to battle against the Golden Eagles of Cornerstone.  In a fast paced first half that saw multiple lead changes,  the Tigers went into the locker room  down 43-32. ” I thought we played pretty well in the first half, and we actually had already come back from 11 point defecits twice in the half, I knew if we started strong we would be right back in it. ” Said Coach Oldebekking after the game.  ” I thought we came out okay, but they were hitting their threes in the second half, and we couldn’t keep up.”

Melvin DeVeaux 22 points

The Tigers were led in scoring by Melvin DeVeaux who had 22 points.  Mitch Luban checked in with 12 points and 11 rebounds.  ” The stat sheet really was pretty even, the only glaring thing is they made 12 three pointers to our five. “  explained Coach. ” They are a really good team, and they really executed in the second half.”

The Tigers will be off until they travel to take on the Saints of Aquinas College on January 14th.  Tip is at 7:30pm.

The Tigers couldn’t keep up with a very strong Davenport JV team, losing 78-59. There were no stats taken at the game.

The Tigers are off until after the holiday when they take on Cornerstone JV on Saturday December 29th, tip off is at 1:00pm.

The young Tigers battled hard on Wednesday night against a solid Aquinas Saints squad, but came out on the losing end 70-63. The see-saw battle saw each team hold leads in both halves with the Saints taking a three point lead with 2 minutes remaining.  ” I really thought we had a shot there in the last two minutes, we forced a tough shot, but one of their guys got their hand on the rebound  and tipped in the miss.”  I give Aquinas a lot of credit they did the right things down the stretch, made their free throws and got rebounds.”  said a dejected Coach Oldebekking after the game.

The Tigers got a great game from Jordan Bylsma who had 21 points.  ” Jordan also had zero turnovers, which with as much as he has the ball in his hands, is something that we love to see.”  The Tigers were followed in scoring by Michael Miller with 12 and Mitch Luban with 10.  The Tigers are back in action tonight as they travel accross town to take on the Panthers of Davenport University.

Tigers took the floor at the Devos Fieldhouse at Hope College a tired bunch losing 76-48. The Tigers were playing their 4th game in seven days and it showed from the start.  ” We looked pretty ragged offensively we missed a bunch of shots in the first half.”  ” We have some good shooters on this team, but we just were off in that first half.”  ” Hope’s defense certainly played a part in that,” said coach Oldebekking after the game. ” They really had a nice defensive game plan.” Grace only managed 16 first half points, and were losing 30-16 at the break.

” I told the guys at half time that only giving up 30 points at half was nice, but we needed to get some stops in the second half.” ” They just never came.”  The Tigers were led in scoring by Ridge Tefft who had 12 points in a losing effort.

The Tigers are back in action tomorrow night as they take on Aquinas JV at 5:00 followed by the varsity teams battling at 7:30.

The Knights of Calvin College travelled to the Aldrich Athletic Center on Wednesday and defeated the Grace Bible College Tigers 76-58. The game was close through most of the first half until the Knights finished the half off on a 12-3 run to take a 41-28 halftime lead. The Knights picked up right where they left off building a lead as big as 25 points in the second half.

“They are a pretty good team, they are really big and wore us down on both ends of the floor.” All the Tigers got at least 15 minutes of playing time, and they were led in scoring by Jordan Bylsma and Melvin DeVeaux with 12 and 10 points respectively.

The Tigers are back in action on Saturday as they travel to Hope College to take on the Flying Dutchmen at the Devos Fieldhouse.  The game tips at 11:00am.