The JV Tigers went 0-2 this weekend playing in the Buffalo Wild Wings Tournament in Muskegon.  On Friday they took on a nationally ranked Lansing Community College and were unable to keep up with a very talented team losing 96-48. On Saturday they had a rematch with Muskegon Community College who they took on in the first game of the year, losing 69-48.

” We were short handed all weekend” said coach Oldebekking after the game. “Friday we played with 8 players, and on Saturday we only had 7 players. ” I am really proud of the effort that the guys put forth.” There were two players who really stuck out to me first was Jordan Bylsma, he handled the ball against some good pressure, and played big minutes both nights, he really was great. The other was Mitch Luban, he individually kept in the game in the first half of the Muskegon game, he had 6 offensive rebounds just in that half.”   There is no rest for the weary as the Tigers travel to Midland to take on the Northwood Timberwolves on Monday at 7:00.

A game against Calvin College was put on the schedule for February 2nd at 12:30pm.  The game will be played at Calvin College in the auxiliary gym which is the Hoogenboom Athletic Center.

Ridge Tefft 7 rebounds out of the guard spot

Playing arguably their best half of basketball the Tigers played Hope College straight up for 20 minutes, going into the lockerroom tied 23-23. Eventually the Flying Dutchmen pulled away winning 72-53.  ” Defensively the first half was the best we played so far, they were missing a lot of shots, but we were forcing them into the shots we wanted them to take.”  ” I really think we are learning how hard you have to play just to compete, I was really impressed with the effort of the team, in particular Mike Mokma, Ridge Tefft, Ben Kronemeyer, and Kyle Zobel.” said Coach Oldebekking after game.  ” I really thought they gave valuable minutes and really played hard.”

Statistically this was the Tigers best game to date. ” Even though we lost by a pretty large margin, we are starting to see some things on the stat sheet that are promising, our turnovers were way down this game, and the rebounding margin was much closer this game then in previous games.” On the rebounding end, Karlion Jackson had 8 rebounds and Ridge Tefft checked in with 7 rebounds.” Ridge certainly made the most of his time on the court today, and we loved to see him crash the glass like he did.”

All nine Tigers scored in the game, they were led in scoring by Jordan Bylsma who had 15 points. The Tigers have the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving, and will be back in action next weekend as the participate in the Buffalo Wild Wings Tournament at Muskegon Community College.  November 30th the Tigers play at 3:00pm against Lansing Community College, and on  December 1st they will take on Muskegon Community College at 7:00pm.

The Tigers put together a valiant second half run cutting a 20 point Calvin College lead down to 12, put couldn’t get any closer losing 80-57. ” I think the second half we really started to play to our potential on the offensive end, we were getting our shooters open looks and were getting the rim.” explained Coach Oldebekking after the game. ” Defensively we were not very good though, we really need to shore up some things on that end of the floor.”

There were no stats taken at the game to report. The Tigers will be back in action on Monday as the Flying Dutchmen from Hope travel over from Holland to take on the Tigers.  The tip is at 5:30 with the Varsity following that game at 7:30.

The Tigers traveled to Plymouth Indiana to take on the very good Ancilla College Chargers team on Tuesday night, falling 78-43.  This was the Tigers second game in as many days, as well as their first experience on the road, and it showed as the Tigers started very slowly and only shot 25% from the field for the game.  “  I thought that this was by far the best defensive team that we played.  They really harassed our guards and made it tough to make a good clean pass.”  ” I still think that there are some things we can build on from a game like this, we have some games coming up very soon with teams that play a very similar type of defense, so this game will certainly help us with that.” said Coach Oldebekking after the game.

14 points and 6 rebounds

The Tigers got another great performance from Jason Gingrich who had 14 points and 6 rebounds. Coach Oldebekking had great things to say about Jason. ” I cannot say enough about Jason’s play in these first few games, he has be very steady and is doing exactly what is asked of him, he really understands that game and does all of the little things that make he a great basketball player.” Mitch Luban also had 11 rebounds for the Tigers.

Grace is back in action on Saturday as they play at Calvin College at 10:30 am. This game is going to be played before the tournament games of the Calvin Tip-Off Tournament.  The game will be played in the Hoogenboom Athletic Facility which is in the same building as the VanNoord Arena. Come out and cheer on your JV Tigers.

The JV Tigers put together a furious second half comeback coming back from 12 points down to take a lead with 4 minutes to go, but couldn’t hold on as the Timberwolves sealed the game at the free throw line, winning 79-72.

“I thought that we really improved from our first game to this one.” “Offensively we were much more patient, and shot the ball much better. said Coach Oldebekking after the game.  ” Defensively we really clamped down at times and caused a couple of shot clock violations which is always nice to see.”

The Tigers shot 46% from the field and 54% from the three point line. The Tigers lost the rebounding battle 25-39.  The Tigers were led in scoring by Jake Blauwkamp who was on a rehab assignment from the varsity with 27 points including a 7 for 7 effort from the three point line. Jason Gingrich checked in with 14 in a losing effort.

The Tigers are back in action tomorrow as they travel to Donaldson Indiana to take on Ancilla College.

Tigers opened the JV season at Aldrich Athletic Center against the Jayhawks from Muskegon Community College and were defeated 77-62. ” One of the things I really wanted to do today was get everyone some minutes to get used to the flow and the speed of the game.” said Coach Oldebekking after the game.  This happenend as all 11 Tigers played in the game. ” For a first game I thought that we did some nice things, but there is certainly things we will continue to work on.” ” That is a good team we played they were athletic and played really hard, we will be better for playing a team like that.”

The Tigers were led in the score book by Lucas McKian and Jordan Bylsma with 13 and 12  points respectively. Mitch Luban paced the Tigers with 8 assists.  The Tigers have a week of practice before they are back in action on November 12th at home versus Northwood University at 7:00.  Come out and cheer on your Tigers.

Caleb Cook with a game changing flush.

The Timberwolves of Northwood University travelled to the Aldrich Athletic Center Thursday night and were turned away in a hard fought game 56-53, in what was the final game for the GBC Junior Varsity.  The see-saw battle was tight throughout with the largest lead of the game only being eight points.  “ The guys will have bruises after this battle, said Coach Oldebekking after the game. “  It was really physical out there and I was very happy to see our guys be as aggressive as they were.” 

After going into the locker room with the three point lead, the Tigers came out and gave it right back on some costly turnovers, ” we certainly had to many turnovers tonight,  we talk a lot about valuing each possession, and we didn’t always do that.” ” To their credit though they were strong with the ball over the last five minutes and it probably was the deciding factor.”

The Tigers got another strong performance from Cameron Cramer who had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.  Caleb Cook also played a great game off the bench checking in with 12 points including a momentum changing dunk late in the second half.  Every Tiger played at least 20 minutes and tallied in the score book.  “  I can’t say enough about the character of these guys, they shine both on the floor and around campus, we as a coaching staff are lucky that we have players like them in our program, and we can’t wait to see what the next three years has in store for them.”

After a stellar first half the Tigers were not able to keep up with the streaking Knights, eventually falling 75-61.  The first half saw four different lead changes, and 10 point runs by both teams with Grace settling in with a 31-29 halftime lead. ” I thought at the beginning of the game they really came out and hit us in the mouth with their aggressive  half court defense, but we responded really well and started to protect the ball much better.”  ” At halftime I thought we made the proper adjustments, but again they came out strong and took it to us.”  GBC came close on two occasions, cutting the lead to 3 points but never could get over the hump.  ” Truly throughout this year we have hit the big shot when we needed, and tonight we got some nice looks at crucial times, but couldn’t convert.” explained  Coach Oldebekking. ” On the flip side they hit a lot of big shots down the stretch, and it ended up being the difference.

Cameron Cramer again led the way for the Tigers with 19 points and 9 rebounds.  Travis Rader and Jake Blauwkamp checked in with 15 and 13 respectively.  The Grace JV’s play their last game of year next Thursday the 9th at home against Northwood University, tip is 7:00.