CKSR (Women's Basketball Defeats Kalamazoo/Men's Basketball Defeats Alma)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 8, 2012

Women's Basketball Defeats Kalamazoo - John Ross Records Win #200;
Men's Basketball Pulls Out 100-99 Overtime Winner Over Alma

 
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 72, Kalamazoo 38
(by Mark DeHaan)

Coming off its first loss of the season, Calvin looked to rebound as it hosted
the Hornets of Kalamazoo. Calvin did just that, handing Kalamazoo a 72-38
defeat. Calvin is now 21-1 overall and 13-1 in the MIAA.
 
The Knights jumped out of the gates to a 5-1 lead on a three-point shot by
senior Jill Thomas. Kalamazoo responded with a 5-0 run to take the 6-5 lead on
a three-point shot of their own. In their meeting earlier this year, the
Hornets did not hold the lead at any point in the game.
 
Kalamazoo held the one point advantage for the next few minutes before an
'and-1' by junior Julia Hilbrands kicked Calvin into gear. Hilbrand's
three-point play started a 14-2 Knights run that saw their lead built to 20-9.
During that stretch, Hilbrand scored nine points to fuel the run.
 
The Hornets cut the Calvin lead to 23-16 with ten minutes remaining, but
another extended run fueled by Hilbrands saw Calvin extend its lead to 37-18.
Hilbrands scored five points on the run to go along with two boards and a
blocked shot.
 
At the half, the Knights held a 37-25 advantage, with Hilbrands scoring 14
points on 5-for-5 shooting and grabbing five rebounds. Calvin shot 13-for-31
from the field and 8-of-11 from the free throw line as a team in the first
half. The Hornets were led by sophomore and leading scorer Nicole Antoine with
nine points.
 
Calvin extended its lead early in the second half, holding Kalamazoo scoreless
over the first five minutes while scoring twelve straight points to build a
49-24 advantage.
 
With all their players seeing significant minutes, Calvin built its lead to
72-38 by the final buzzer, earning the emphatic win.
 
The win was the 200th for Head Coach John Ross, all of which have come at
Calvin College. Ross started at Calvin in the fall of 2003 after working as an
assistant at Earlham College in Indiana for four years.
 
“It would have been a lot nicer to have (the 200th win) on Saturday, and it
was a struggle,” said Ross. “Early on, we didn't execute our defensive
principles properly, and we came out second half and executed those really,
really well. The 200 wins, its nothing that I did, it just goes to the great
people that we have had in our program in my nine years here.”
 
Hilbrands ended the game with 18 points and six rebeounds to lead the Knights
offensively. Junior Carissa Verkaik added nine points and eight rebounds while
junior Ally Wolffis also chipped in nine points.
 
Leading Kalamazoo on offense was Antoine, who finished with 13 points and 11
rebounds. Freshman Querubin Dubois chipped in six points and eight rebounds for
the Hornets.
 
“Julia was great tonight, and she's really playing well. That was really good
because we really needed to pick it up,” said Ross. “Kalamazoo did a great job
of shutting some of other players down, and Julia stepped it up.”
 
The win puts Calvin at 21-1 and 13-1 in the MIAA, a game ahead of second place
Hope. Kalamazoo drops to 4-18 overall and 2-11 in conference.
 
The Knights now look forward to Saturday when they will travel to Olivet for a
3 p.m. contest.

MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-8-12 GAMES

Calvin 13-1
Hope 11-2
Albion 9-4
Saint Mary’s 8-6
Adrian 5-9
Olivet 4-9
Alma 4-9
Trine 4-9
Kalamazoo 2-11

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 100, Alma 99 (OT)
By Andrew Knot

Down by seven with three minutes in regulation, the Knights fought back to
capture a thrilling 100-99 overtime victory over Alma on Wednesday. With the
win, Calvin remains tied for second place in the MIAA standings with Adrian at
7-4 in league play.
The Knights opened up a lead early in the first half, going up nine in the
game’s first six minutes. Matt DeBoer and Bryan Powell combined for 13 of
Calvin’s first 23 points.
But the Scots, who lead the league in three-pointers made, soon caught fire
and wouldn’t cool down. The Scots drained three triples in just over two
minutes to give the Scots a single point advantage with seven minutes remaining
in the first half.
Alma would only pull away from there. The Scots went up by six with less than
four minutes remaining, only to see Calvin cut the margin to two. But Alma
responded with two more triples in the half’s final 32 seconds, including a
buzzer-beating, baseline three-pointer from Cory Schneider to close out the
half. The Knights trailed 51-43 at the break.
Both squads came out of the locker room in prime offensive form. Tyler Kruis
got the first two of his 11 second half points off a reverse layup three
minutes into the half. But Alma consistently had an answer for the Knights’
offense. On the next Scots’ possession, Schneider knocked down another of his
seven threes on the evening.
From there, the Scots’ lead would fluctuate between two and four points. With
seven minutes to go, Lance Jongekrig hit a three to extend Alma’s lead to
seven. Minutes later, Tom Snikkers scored four consecutive points for the
Knights to cut the deficit to three, but four unanswered points from the Scots
returned the margin to seven with three minutes to play.
That’s when the Knights’ three leading scorers took over. Snikkers drilled a
three-pointer. DeBoer hit a jumper in the paint. And Bryan Powell converted a
layup to cut the lead to two with two minutes to play. After an Alma turnover,
Snikkers connected on a runner to tie the game at 86 with 1:47 on the clock.
Each team would then trade scoreless possessions before the Scots got the ball
back with 48 seconds to play. Alma drained the shot clock down to five seconds
and Greg Silverthorn knocked down a leaning 18-footer to give the Scots a two
point lead with nine seconds to go on the game clock.
On the ensuing possession, Powell drove to the right wing and found DeBoer on
the baseline. DeBoer then patiently executed his right-handed hook and squared
the game at 88 with just three seconds remaining. Afterwards, Schneider’s
buzzer-beating halfcourt heave fell short and the game went into overtime.
In overtime, the Knights drew first blood after Powell crossed his man over,
beat him with a pump fake, and sank a mid-range jumper. Snikkers followed that
up with a spin move and a fade away jumper off the glass. Minutes later, with
the Knights on top by five, Jongekrig hit another triple to cut Calvin’s lead
to two. DeBoer then answered with a jump stop hook shot to put Calvin put on
top by four. Once again, Jongekrig hit a three. After Calvin failed to score on
its offensive possession, the Scots missed a late three to seal a Calvin
victory at 100-99.
“The win is what we needed. I’m glad we persevered and fought through,” said
Coach Kevin Vande Streek after the game.
Four Knights finished in double figures. Snikkers had 26 points and 11
rebounds for his third consecutive double-double. DeBoer had 22 points and
seven rebounds. Powell had 21 points and Kruis had 16 points and nine rebounds.
Alma’s Cory Schneider led all scorers with 27 points.
With his 26-point effort, Snikkers boosted his career scoring total to 1,026
points, moving past Dan Aultman, Bill Wolterstorff and Matt Veltema and into
18th place on the Calvin career scoring list.
The Knights face archrival Hope on Saturday in the Van Noord Arena.

MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-8-12 GAMES

Hope 10-0
Adrian 7-4
Calvin 7-4
Trine 6-5
Albion 5-6
Alma 3-8
Kalamazoo 3-8
Olivet 2-9
Received on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:47:55 -0500