CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR JANUARY 16, 2010 (PART TWO)
Men's Basketball Holds On For Win Over Adrian - Retains Share of First Place
in MIAA Standings;
Women's Basketball Uses Strong Second Half Effort To Pull Away for Win at
Adrian
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 68, Adrian 61
(written by Calvin sports information student assistant Derek Neice)
Calvin continued its hot streak in 2010 conference play Saturday afternoon
with a 68-61 victory against the Adrian Bulldogs at Van Noord Arena. The
Knights led by as many as 21 points early on in the second half but a 14-0
Adrian run sparked a furious comeback that had the Bulldogs within six with
only minutes to play. This would prove to be too little too late though for
Adrian as the Knights closed the game out and won their fourth MIAA game this
season to remain undefeated in conference play. Calvin continues to hold a
share of first place with Albion in the league standings as the Britons also
improved to 4-0 in league play with an 81-53 win at Alma Saturday.
The Knights were paced by a balanced scoring attack over the course of the
game, led by junior Brent Schuster (Denver, CO) with 12 points off the bench.
Seniors John Mantel (Chelsea, MI) and Matt Veltema (Grandville, MI) and
freshman Tom Snikkers (Jenison, MI) all finished close behind with 11 points,
and juniors Trent Salo (Rudyard, MI) and Danny Rodts (Niles, MI) chipped in
eight and seven points each, respectively.
“One of the things I like about this team is that there are a lot of guys who
score,” Calvin coach Kevin Vande Streek said after the game.
“We’ve got a nice combination offensively,” Vande Streek continued, “starting
with John [Mantel] in the low post, with guys who can catch and shoot on the
perimeter, and also with guys who can slash and get to the basket.”
“They always make the extra pass,” Vande Streek concluded about his offense,
“and they play very unselfishly, which is a great advantage to have.”
Rodts, Snikkers and Schuster also all finished with seven rebounds each,
contributing to a 45-36 advantage that Calvin held over Adrian on the boards.
In the first half the Knights shot over sixty percent from the field and
played excellent defense in holding Adrian to a twenty percent shooting
percentage. Schuster scored 10 of his 12 points and Mantel scored all 11 of
his in the first half to give Calvin a dominant 40-23 lead at the break.
But in basketball no lead is safe, and Adrian proved just that in clawing its
way back as time wound down in the second frame.
At 59-39 with just over seven minutes to play, Adrian scored 14 straight
points to bring the score to 59-53.
With the lead dwindling Calvin needed to stop the bleeding, so it got the ball
to one of the surest shooters on the team in Rodts, and he hit a big triple
from the corner to stop the Bulldogs’ momentum.
“You have to play forty minutes and we were fortunate to show some resolve
here in the last five or six minutes today, but it wasn’t a very good first
fifteen minutes to start the half that’s for sure,” said Vande Streek.
That three by Rodts to put Calvin up 62-53 proved to be the difference for the
Knights, as the game would eventually end 68-61.
“When the pressure is on it’s not the time to do things differently than you
normally do,” said Vande Streek about his mentality in coaching against a run
like Adrian’s on Saturday.
“That’s the big thing, just getting back to fundamentals,” Vande Streek
concluded.
At 4-0 now in the MIAA standings the Knights are exactly where they want to be
at this point in the season. Their next game is an away match-up against
Kalamazoo on Wednesday, a game that will be reminiscent of last year when
Kalamazoo defeated Calvin at the end of the regular season, essentially ending
their hopes of an NCAA at-large tournament bid.
“The guys who are returning have heard me say already that last year not being
ready at Kalamazoo cost us,” Vande Streek said of Wednesday’s upcoming game,
“so I’m hoping we’ll be ready for them this time around.”
Wednesday’s game at Kalamazoo is set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
OTHER MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES ON SATURDAY
Albion 81, Alma 53
Hope 79, Kalamazoo 63
Olivet 85, Trine 80
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-16-10 GAMES
Albion 4-0
Calvin 4-0
Adrian 2-2
Hope 2-2
Kalamazoo 2-2
Olivet 2-2
Alma 0-4
Trine 0-4
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 66, Adrian 52
ADRIAN - Calvin rebounded from a frigid first half shooting performance to
post a 66-52 victory at Adrian on Saturday afternoon. The victory sets up a
showdown for first place between Calvin and Hope next Tuesday night at Hope's
DeVos Fieldhouse as both teams will head into the rivalry game with overall
records of 14-1 and MIAA marks of 6-0. Hope won at Albion 50-34 on Saturday to
remain unbeaten in league play.
In its victory at Adrian on Saturday, Calvin led 27-23 at halftime despite
shooting just 27 percent from the floor in the first half.
After Adrian (7-7 overall, 3-3 MIAA) was able to close to within a point in
the opening minute of the second half, Calvin rolled off a 12-2 run to build a
39-28 lead. The run was triggered by a three-pointer on the break by sophomore
Courtney Kurncz (St Johns HS) and strengthened by five points from freshman
Carissa Verkaik (Holland Christian HS).
Adrian came back to whittle the Calvin lead down to five points at 42-37 but
could get no closer as the Knights built a double-digit margin on the strength
of a 12-0 run that put Calvin in control at 59-41 with six minutes remaining.
Calvin never looked back from there en route to the win.
Verkaik led all scorers with 26 points to go with nine rebounds and eight
blocked shots as she flirted with a triple-double for the second time this
season. Senior Amber Benthem (McBain Christian HS) and freshman Allison
Wolffis (Muskegon Mona Shores HS) added 10 points apiece while senior Brook Van
Eck (Lowell HS) had six points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Kurncz also had a
solid all-around game with seven rebounds, six points, five assists and two
blocked shots.
Calvin controlled the game on glass, outrebounding the Bulldogs 52-28
including 21-10 in the second half. Calvin also enjoyed an advantage at the
free throw line, converting 18 of 21 (.857) at the stripe while Adrian was 10
of 16 (.526) at the line.
Calvin also shot 44.4 percent in the second half to finish with onverall
shooting percentage of 34.4.
Adrian was led in scoring by Ashley McClarren with 16 points. Adrian was 6 of
10 from three-point range and shot 36.0 percent overall.
OTHER MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCORES ON SATURDAY
Saint Mary's 61, Olivet 58
Hope 50, Albion 34
Trine 62, Alma 59
MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-16-10 GAMES
Calvin 6-0
Hope 6-0
Saint Mary's 4-2
Adrian 3-3
Olivet 3-4
Trine 2-4
Alma 2-4
Albion 2-5
Kalamazoo 0-6
Received on Sat Jan 16 19:03:08 2010
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