CKSR (Men's Basketball Falls to Hope in MIAA Tournament Semifinals)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 22, 2012 (PART TWO)

Men's Basketball Falls to Hope in MIAA Tournament Semifinals

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Hope 87, Calvin 80
By Andrew Knot

HOLLAND, Mich. - The Knights’ season came to a close in the first round of the
MIAA tournament as Calvin conceded an 87-80 result to rival Hope.
 
Brian Haverdink, Calvin’s lone senior, opened the game with a baseline triple
to mark the game’s first bucket. But, as was the case for the rest of the
evening, the Dutchmen quickly had a response. Hope’s David Krombeen drilled a
three-pointer on the other end to square the game away.
 
The rivals traded punches in the games early stages until Hope established a
lead. Five minutes into the game and trailing by three, the Knights set up in a
zone defense, a rarity for any Calvin team in recent memory.
 
Minutes later, junior Bryan Powell got to the lane and found freshman Tyler
Dykstra cutting backdoor. Dykstra fielded Powell’s pass and elevated on the
baseline to dunk the ball with two hands. The Knights had a spark and trailed
by just two points. But again, Krombeen sank a three to quell any semblance of
momentum for the Knights. Hope would extend its lead from there. At halftime,
the Knights trailed by a score of 41-27.
 
Out of the halftime break, the Knights cut to the deficit to ten less than
three minutes into the half. After the Dutchmen again extended the margin,
sophomore Tyler Kruis came away with a steal at midcourt and fed Powell on the
break. Powell completed an and-1 lay-up in transition to return the deficit to
10 points.
 
Just over seven minutes into the half, Hope’s knocked down consecutive triples
from Logan Neil and Colton Overway. That brought Hope’s total to seven on the
game. The Dutchmen would end the game with nine and a 50% mark from beyond the
arc.
 
The two squads traded baskets for a while. With less than five minutes to go,
Haverdink slipped a bounce pass in the low post to Kruis, who faced the basket
and laid the ball in to have the Knights down by eight. Neil answered that with
a three on Hope’s offensive end.

Still, Calvin had a counter. It came in the form of two deep three-pointers
from Bryan Powell. Powell benefited from some fortunate bounce around the rim
to cut the score to 85-80 with just 11 seconds to play. Hope would close the
game from there after two made free throws, and the game ended at a score of
87-80.
 
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said Calvin Coach Kevin Vande Streek after the
game. “We did not quit.”
 
Powell led the Knights with 18 points while sophomore center Tyler Kruis
tallied his second straight double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Junior Tom Snikkers had 14 points while Matt DeBoer had 13 points. Hope was led
by David Krombeen with 23 points as Hope shot 52.7 percent from the floor.
Calvin held a 39-34 rebounding advantage.Hope now leads the all-time series
with Calvin 95-87 and will host the MIAA Tournament Championship game Saturday
at 3 p.m. against Adrian.
 
Calvin closes the season at 13-13 overall.
Received on Wed Feb 22 23:44:13 2012