CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR JAN. 5, 2013
Men's Basketball Pulls Out Cliffhanger at Albion;
Women's Basketball Rolls at Trine - Irwin Moves Up 3-pt FG Charts
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 66, Albion 63
ALBION - A determined Albion homecourt effort forced the Calvin men's basketball team to dig down deep - and in the closing minutes, Calvin found an extra gear to hang on for a 66-63 conference victory at Albion's venerable Kresge Gymnasium.
Saturday's contest proved to be a nip-and-tuck affair with neither team able to stretch a lead beyond six points. After the two teams were tied at 28 at halftime, neither team would lead by more than three points in the second half with the Britons and Knights trading leads seven times in the second half.
Sophomore Jordan Brink (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) hit two clutch triples down the stretch for the Knights on a day that Calvin struggled from beyond the arc. Brink's first triple of the game gave the Knights a 57-55 lead with 2:55 to play. He then swished another trifecta with 1:22 to go to give the Knights a 61-59 lead. Albion tied the game at 61 on a driving layup by Mike Smith with 50 seconds remaining but with the shot clock ticking down, Calvin senior Tom Snikkers (Jenison/Unity Christian HS) was fouled with 21 seconds remaining. Snikkers then split a pair of free throws to give Calvin a 62-61 advantage.
Calvin then came up with a big defensive stop as junior Mickey DeVries (Lansing/Lansing Christian HS) got in the way of an Albion jump shot, corralled the rebound and was fouled with six seconds remaining. DeVries then nailed both ends of a bonus opportunity to put the Knights up 64-61. Calvin fouled two seconds later to prevent an Albion game-tying three-point attempt. Albion's Anthony Wash connected on both free throws to bring the Brits within 64-63 but Calvin's Brink was fouled on the ensuing inbounds possession and swished a pair of free throws with 3.4 seconds remaining. A desperation three-point attempt from near mid-court by Albion was then off the mark, allowing the Knights to claim the win.
"It wasn't easy but I knew it would be like that," said Calvin men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek after the game. "I told our guys beforehand to expect every team to give us their best shot and Albion certainly did that today. We struggled with our shooting but I thought our mental toughness inside the final three or four minutes was excellent."
Calvin (11-2 overall, 2-0 MIAA) was led by Snikkers who tallied 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Brink had 16 points including 10 in the second half. Senior David Rietema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) added eight points, four rebounds and two assists.
Albion (4-9 overall, 0-2 MIAA) was led by Jordan Herron with 12 points while Wash had 11.
Calvin shot 40.7 percent overall but connected on just 20 percent (4-of-20) from three-point range. The Knights did connect on 18-of-22 (.818) at the charity stripe however while Albion was 9-of-12 (.750) at the free throw line.
Calvin will travel to Kalamazoo next Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m contest at the Anderson Athletic Center.
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-5-13
Calvin 2-0
Hope 2-0
Trine 2-0
Kalamazoo 1-1
Olivet 1-1
Adrian 0-2
Albion 0-2
Alma 0-2
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 64, Trine 36
ANGOLA, IN - The second-ranked Calvin women's basketball team claimed a 64-36 victory at Trine University Saturday afternoon, improving to 11-1 overall and to 5-0 in the MIAA. Calvin rode the hot hand of senior sharpshooter Kelsey Irwin in the first half and then used stifling defensive pressure in the second half to roll to the win.
Irwin (Fraser/Fraser HS) was 5-of-6 from three-point range in the first half - en route to a game-high 15 points. Irwin connected on her first five three-pointers, allowing her to move past 1995 graduate Cheryl Essenburg and into second place on the Calvin career three-point field goal list. Irwin now has 155 triples in her career and amazingly has recorded just a pair of two-point field goals in her career. She is 29-of-60 from three-point range this year for a 48.3 percent three-point clip and has converted 155-of-378 three-point field goal attempts for a career three-point clip of 41.0 percent. Kristen McDonald (2005 grad) is Calvin's career leader with 187.
Senior Carissa Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) also had 13 points and nine rebounds as she moved over the 1,900 point mark for her career.
Calvin led 37-23 at halftime and then held Trine without a field goal for the first 7:32 of the second half.
"I thought Kelsey really gave us a big boost in the first half," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross. "We were just 6-of-22 from three-point range and Kelsey hit five of our six so that's pretty big. I thought our defense in the second half was also very good. I also want to credit Trine's effort today. They were a little short-handed today but they still gave their best effort."
Calvin now owns a 10-game win streak. The Knights return to action next Wednesday when they host Rochester College (Mich.) in a non-conference game at Van Noord Arena at 7:30 p.m.
MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-5-13 GAMES
Calvin 5-0
Hope 5-0
Olivet 4-2
Adrian 3-2
Alma 2-2
Trine 2-2
Saint Mary's 1-4
Albion 1-4
Kalamazoo 0-5
Received on Sat Jan 5 21:08:54 2013
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