CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB. 11, 2012
Men's Basketball Falls to Hope in Rivalry Game;
Women's Basketball Clinches Share of MIAA Regular Season Title;
Track and Field Action Continues at GVSU Big Meet
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Hope 83, Calvin 70
(By Andrew Knot)
The Knights dropped an 83-70 loss to archrival and top-ranked Hope on
Saturday, moving their record to 12-11 overall and 7-5 in conference.
The game was competitive in its early stages. Senior Brian Haverdink drilled a
three from the top of the key to bring the score to 11-9 early. Sophomore Tyler
Kruis followed that up on the defensive end with a baseline block of Hope’s
Colton Overway. But Hope clawed back to take a marginal lead off an
old-fashioned three point play from Nate Van Arendonk. But once again,
Haverdink, playing in his final Calvin-Hope game, buried another three to put
the Knights on top by two.
But Hope would mount a double-digit lead in not too long. After VanArendonk
again converted three consecutive points to put the Dutchmen on top by 15. With
less than four minutes to go in the half, Calvin found itself needing a spark.
That spark came in the form of 6’1” junior Bryan Powell. With two-and-a-half
minutes remaining in the half, Powell intercepted pass from Hope’s Logan Neil
and darted towards the basket. Nearing the hoop, Powell elevated over Neil for
an electrifying, authoritative dunk. Powell’s fast break electrified the Calvin
crowd, which had previously grown silent, and by halftime, the Knights had cut
the deficit to eight.
The Dutchmen were able to stifle any remains of Calvin momentum after
halftime. David Krombeen sank a triple three minutes into the half and Billy
Seiler downed two threes in less than a minute. Soon, Hope’s lead was nineteen.
Calvin would respond at various points with runs. Kruis was efficient in the
paint, scoring 11 second half points. But Hope’s defense was stifling, and
Calvin couldn’t cut the lead to single digits.
“They did a good job of taking away our inside high-low game,” said Calvin
Coach Kevin Vande Streek. “They forced us to take shots at the end of the shot
clock.”
Kruis led the Knights in scoring with 17 points. He also contributed 6
rebounds. Powell was close behind with 16 points and junior Tom Snikkers led
the way on the glass with 10 boards.
Hope was led in scoring by Nate Snuggerud with 25 points while David Krombeen
had 20 points.
Calvin held a 43-29 rebounding advantage but the Knights shot just 36.9
percent from the floor while Hope connected on 52.8 percent of its attempts.
Calvin travels to Angola, IN to square off against Trine on Wednesday. Calvin
is currently locked in a three-way tie for second place in the MIAA standings
with Adrian and Trine as all three teams are 7-5 in league play. Albion is
lurking close behind at 6-6 as four teams are vying for three available spots
for the upcoming four-team league tournament. Hope has already clinched the top
seed.
MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-11-12 GAMES
Hope 12-0
Adrian 7-5
Calvin 7-5
Trine 7-5
Albion 6-6
Alma 4-8
Kalamazoo 3-9
Olivet 2-10
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 67, Olivet 44
OLIVET – Calvin clinched a share of the MIAA regular season title with a 67-44
victory at Olivet Saturday afternoon. Ranked fifth nationally, Calvin improves
to 22-1 overall and to 14-1 in the MIAA. The Knights can claim an outright
title with a win over Saint Mary’s next Wednesday. The league title is Calvin’s
13th overall in women’s basketball which leads all MIAA schools.
Calvin overcame early foul trouble to roll out to a 44-22 halftime lead
against the Comets. Calvin then stretched its lead to as many as 35 points in
the second half to help seal the win.
Calvin’s inside tandem of juniors Carissa Verkaik and Julia Hilbrands powered
the Knights to the win as Verkaik had 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting while
Hillbrands was 6-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-4 at the free throw line for 16
points.
Junior Ally Wolffis also contributed seven points.
“Olivet has been playing good basketball lately so we feel very positive about
this win,” said Calvin women’s basketball coach John Ross. “We are happy about
winning a share of the MIAA (regular season) title but we know we still have
work to do. We’ve got a very challenging opponent coming up next Wednesday when
we host Saint Mary’s so we’ll have to be prepared.”
Calvin’s game against Saint Mary’s next Wednesday is scheduled to start at
7:30 p.m. at Van Noord Arena.
MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-11-12 GAMES
Calvin 14-1
Hope 12-2
Albion 10-4
Saint Mary’s 8-6
Adrian 6-9
Alma 4-10
Olivet 4-10
Trine 4-10
Kalamazoo 2-12
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
ALLENDALE – Action continued at the Grand Valley State big meet on Saturday.
Notable performances for the Calvin men’s team included sophomore Sam Kerk
placing fifth in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:39.93.In the men’s shot put,
junior Aaron Meckes produced a season-best throw of 53-3 that places him ninth
on the NCAA III qualifying list.
On the women’s side, sophomore Stephanie Bennett had a solid day, posting a
time of 8.20 in the 60 meter dash and a time of 26.70 in the 200 meter dash.
Freshman Kate Ardinger also had a strong time of 5:10.97 that was good for 10th
place in the mile run.
Received on Sat Feb 11 22:49:06 2012
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Sat Feb 11 2012 - 22:49:06 EST