CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 24, 2012
Men's and Women's Basketball Teams Finish Out Tournament Slates With 2-0
Records
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 70, Cornerstone 65
Story by Mitch Blankespoor
HOLLAND, MI - The Calvin College men’s basketball team faced Cornerstone
University Saturday night in the final day of the Grand Rapids Hall of Fame
Classic. Calvin defeated Cornerstone 70-65 to win the classic for the first
time since 2010.
Calvin started the first half on fire from the field. The Knights hit six of
their first seven shots, two coming from senior Tom Snikkers (Hudsonville/Unity
Christian). This propelled Calvin to a 13-7 just three minutes into the
contest.
Neither team scored a point for three and a half minutes. A jumper from
Cornerstone sophomore Justin Pepper (Wayland/Wayland HS) broke the deadlock.
The Golden Eagles took their first lead at the 10:34 mark on a layup from
sophomore Ty Mason (Comstock Park/Comstock Park HS).
Calvin countered with two field goals from senior guard Bryan Powell
(Wyoming/Wyoming Park) and senior Matt De Boer (Hudsonville/Covenant Christian)
giving the Knights a 22-20 lead. Consecutive three pointers from sophomore
Tyler Dykstra (Holland/Holland Christian) and Powell spurred an 11-3 run for
Calvin, giving the Knights a double-digit lead, 33-23.
Calvin took a 39-33 lead into halftime. Powell sparked the Knights coming off
the bench with 13 points hitting five of seven first half field goals. Senior
David Rietema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian) had eight points and four
assists.
“I thought we started out with enough intensity and toughness,” said Calvin
head coach Kevin Vande Streek after the match. “We did not carry that
throughout the first half.”
Ranked 20th in the most recent NAIA Division III Top 25 poll, Cornerstone cut
Calvin’s lead to two points at with a 25-foot three pointer from junior Wes
Hudson (Wayland/Wayland HS). Two consecutive buckets from Snikkers pushed the
Knight’s lead back to seven. Another Hudson layup with 17 seconds left in
regulation cut Calvin’s lead to one, 66-65. Two free throws from Jordan Brink
(Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian) followed by a steal from Rietema sealed Calvin’s
victory.
Brink, who was named tournament MVP, led the Knights with 14 points including
a perfect eight of eight from the free throw line.
“I think I can speak for our whole team in saying we wanted this game,” Brink
said after the match. “This was our most complete game as a team so far this
season.”
Snikkers, who joined Brink on the all-tournament team, chipped in 13 points.
Powell had 13 points including three of four beyond the three-point arc.
“Even though this tournament is a classic, we treated this as the
‘championship’ game,” said Vande Streek. “Cornerstone is a good team, and
good teams will punish you for your mistakes. They made their run, but we kept
our intensity up even though the game was close.”
Mason and Hudson led the Golden Eagles with 20 and 16 points respectively in
defeat.
Calvin, now 5-0 for the first time since the 2000-01 season, will travel to
Manchester College Tuesday, November 27, for an in-region game with the
Spartans.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 76, Centre 48
By Mark DeHaan
A quick turnaround saw the Calvin women's basketball team face Centre College
Saturday afternoon less than a day after defeating host Thomas More in a
thrilling overtime victory in the Julie Costello Memorial Classic. The Knights
showed no signs of fatigue and dominated Centre, winning 76-48.
Calvin jumped out to an early 14-4 lead against the Colonels on a pair of
triples from senior Kelsey Irwin.
Centre cut Calvin's advantage to 18-10, but that is as close as the Colonels
would come the rest of the game as Calvin took advantage of its height in the
post. Without a single player on Centre taller than 5'11”, Calvin was able to
utilize 6'2” senior Carissa Verkaik down on the block.
Calvin's lead was 34-19 at half time, with Irwin leading the Knights with nine
points and Verkaik
chipping in eight.
In the second half, Calvin continued to expand its lead as each member of the
team saw playing time. Freshman Abby Springer chipped in seven points off the
bench in just six minutes of play, while senior
Heather DeKleine added five of her eight points in the second half.
The Knights cruised to the 76-48 final score on a team effort as five Knights
scored at least seven points. Verkaik led the charge with 20 points, six
rebounds and five blocks. Sophomore Kayla Engelhard added 14 points, while
Irwin scored nine, DeKleine eight, and Springer seven. Senior Ally
Wolffis grabbed 12 rebounds for the Knights, five on the offensive glass.
The Colonels were led by Paige Baechle who scored 15 points. Chelsea Benham
added nine points and seven rebounds.
Both Verkaik and Engelhard were named to the All-Tournament team, with
Engelhard earning MVP honors for her combined 51 points in a pair of games
against Thomas More and Centre.
“We had a lot of people step up and shoot well today, which was good to see,”
said head coach John Ross. “I think we did a great job defensively, especially
in the first half, when we held them to 19 points. (Before Albion on
Wednesday), we just need to get some rest after playing five games in nine
days. Albion is one of the best coached teams in the country, we just have to
be ready to play a really good team on Wednesday, and at their place, it is
never an easy place to win.”
Calvin moves to 4-1 on the year with the win, while the Colonels drop to 1-4.
The Knights now look forward to next Wednesday when they will open up their
conference schedule away at Albion, with the tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Received on Sat Nov 24 23:53:03 2012
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