CKSR (Calvin Knight Sports Report for Jan. 7, 2012)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR JAN. 7, 2012

Women's Basketball Defeats Hope in Rivalry Showdown;
Men's Basketball Falters to Albion in Closing Minutes;
Indoor Track & Field Teams Compete Against Aquinas at Maroon Classic

WOMEN'SBASKETBALL
Calvin 72, Hope 59
(By Sports Information Student Assistant Mark DeHaan)
Wins onWednesday for both Calvin and Hope set up a game for first place in the
MIAASaturday afternoon at Van Noord Arena. Calvin came into the game 12-0 and
5-0conference while Hope was 13-1 and 5-0 in conference.
Rankedfourth nationally in the latest polls, Calvin jumped out to an early 9-1
leadon a corner three-point shot by senior Jill Thomas to force an early
timeout byHope Head Coach Brian Morehouse.
Calvinplayed strong defense early on, forcing Hope into tough shots and
1-for-14shooting to open the game, including 0-for-6 from behind the
three-point arc.The Knights, on the other hand, opened up the match shooting
8-of-16 from thefloor.
The Knightsbuilt a lead as large as 13 before an 8-0 run by Hope capped by a
three-pointshot by junior Courtney Kust cut the Calvin lead to 22-17.
Calvinresponded over the final four minutes of the half on a 10-2 run to extend
itslead to 32-19 at the break. Balance was the key for the Knights offensively
inthe first half as six players had at least four points for Calvin.
Ranked 12thnationally, Hope opened the second half playing much stronger, but
Calvin wouldrespond as senior Courtney Kurncz would hit a pair of shots to
extend theKnights lead to 38-22.
Over thefinal 17 minutes, Hope would continue to fight, drawing within nine
pointsmultiple times with Calvin responding each time.
The Knightsiced the game at the free-throw line en route to a 72-59 victory,
with freshmenKayla Engelhard hitting 10-for-12 at the stripe in the second half
on her wayto a career-high 16 point performance. Engelhard also had seven
assists in thegame. Two players for the Knights had double-doubles, as junior
Carissa Verkaikhad 13 points and 12 rebounds while Kurncz had 15 points and 10
boards.
Hope was ledon offense by senior Maddie Burnett, who scored 18 points. Hope’s
leadingscoring, junior Liz Ellis, added 12 points but was 0-for-6 from
three-pointrange.
“The wholekey was getting after it defensively in the first half,” said Head
Coach JohnRoss. “We did a good job holding our composure, we have a lot of
greatindividuals in our program and a lot of hard workers.”
The Knightsremain undefeated with a 13-0 record, 6-0 in the MIAA. The loss
pushes Hope to13-2 on the year and 5-1 in the MIAA.
The 72-59win was the first double-digit win for the Calvin women over Hope
since January24, 2004, Ross’s first season as Head Coach.
MEN'SBASKETBALL
(By Sports Information Student Assistant Andrew Knot)
Albion 64, Calvin 59

The Knights fell to 0-2 in conference with a 64-59 loss against Albion
onSaturday.
In thegame’s opening seven minutes, Albion went on a 13-4 run with a flurry of
threepoint plays. Alex Harville knocked down two triples and Luke Walker
addedone to cap off the run.
The Britonsmaintained a lead for most of the first half until Calvin chipped
away at thedeficit. Freshman Ryan Nadeau and senior Brian Haverdink hit
three’s andjunior Matt DeBoer knocked down a pair of jumpers to cut the
Britons’ lead tothree. After lay-ups from sophomore Tyler Kruis and junior Tom
Snikkers,the Knights had a brief lead before Albion’s Leonard Wernette-Leff
beat thebuzzer with a put-back to put Albion on top by one entering halftime.

The secondhalf was neck-and-neck from there. Kolin Kazen and Lawrence Ridgell
madethrees for the Britons but DeBoer responded with one for the Knights and
Calvinsoon had a three-point advantage. With ten minutes remaining, Albion’s
ZachHurth drilled a baseline to tie the game at 42. Dave Rietema thenresponded
with two acrobatic lay-ups to but Calvin back on top.
But with twominutes remaining, Calvin found itself trailing by three.
Haverdinkanswered with an equalizing three. Miandthe Knights once again trailed by two. But Albion fouled Haverdink, whoonce
again tied the game with two free throws. The Britons regainedpossession with
seventeen seconds and with two seconds remaining Luke Walkerhit a clutch
baseline three to put Albion on top. Calvin was unable toinbound the ball in
response and Albion hit free throws to clinch the 64-59final score.
Calvin hostsKalamazoo Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Calvin wasled in defeat by DeBoer with 15 points while Snikkers had 14 points,
7 assistsand six rebounds. Kruis added 12 points, seven rebounds and four
blocked shots.

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

The Calvin men’s and women’s indoor track and field opened its season on
Fridaynight with a dual meet competition at Huizenga Tennis and Track Center on
theSturrus Track. The competition, known as the Maroon Invitational, was won
byAquinas on both counts as the Saints won the women’s meet 61-44 and the
men’smeet 60-47.

Full meet results can be found online at:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/mens/track/Results/2012/Indoor/maroon-classic-track-and-field-2012.pdf
Received on Sat Jan 7 22:57:20 2012