CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB. 6, 2013
Basketball Teams Claim Conference Victories/Crack First Set of Regional
Rankings
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 90, Alma 66
By Mitch Blankespoor
ALMA - Story by Mitch Blankespoor
ALMA, MI – The #13 Calvin men’s basketball team traveled to Alma College Wed.,
Feb. 6 for an MIAA matchup with the Scots. The Knights defeated Alma 90-66 to
improve to 20-2 and a perfect 11-0 in the MIAA on the season.
The game played very tight in the opening minutes. Calvin did score nine of
the game’s first 11 points, but Alma would battle back to tie the game at 17
with a three-pointer from Isiah Law (Grand Haven/Grand Haven HS) with 9:46 to
play in the first half.
The Knights then relied on two seniors to give themselves a lead. Senior
guard Bryan Powell (Wyoming/Wyoming Park) scored seven straight points for
Calvin. Fellow senior Tom Snikkers (Hudsonville/Unity Christian) scored six
straight right after Powell, giving the Knights a 31-21 lead.
Calvin continued to add to its lead. Powell’s three-pointer with six seconds
remaining put the Knights up 46-27 at halftime.
Alma could not get any closer in the second half. Snikkers finished with a
game-high 28 points. This performance moved Snikkers past Chris Prins and
Mickey Phelps on Calvin’s all-time scoring list. Snikkers currently has 1,372
points; good for ninth place all-time.
Powell chipped in 17 points while junior center Tyler Kruis (Grandville/Calvin
Christian) scored 13 points. The Knights shot 9-19 from beyond the three-point
arc.
“Anytime you can go into an opponent’s gym and get a win, you take it and run,”
said Calvin head coach Kevin Vande Streek in a post-game interview. “We didn’t
come out with enough intensity tonight, but played harder and harder as the
game wore on.”
Calvin hits the 20-win plateau for the 16th time in school history and the
sixth season under Vande Streek.
Calvin travels to Hope College on Sat., Feb. 9, for a game with its rival, the
Flying Dutchmen. The game is slated to start at 3:00 p.m.
MIAA MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-6-13 GAMES
Calvin 11-0
Hope 9-2
Trine 7-4
Adrian 5-6
Olivet 5-6
Alma 3-8
Albion 2-9
Kalamazoo 2-9
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 84, Saint Mary’s 54
By Mark DeHaan
NOTRE DAME, IN - The Calvin College women's basketball team traveled to Saint
Mary's College Wednesday night and continued its winning streak and perfect
MIAA record against the Belles, earning the 84-54 victory. Calvin moves to 13-0
in the conference and 20-1 overall, while Saint Mary's falls to 3-11 in the
MIAA and 5-18 on the seasons. It marks the fourth consecutive year Calvin has
hit the 20-win plateau, the eighth time under current head coach John Ross and
the 14th time in school history.
The Belles kept the game close in the opening minutes, trailing just 5-3 a few
minutes in. But, the Belles, who have struggled on defense this year, could not
keep the Knights bottled up for long. A 12-2 run expanded Calvin's lead to 17-5
with 14:00 remaining in the first half.
A three-pointer by senior Kelsey Irwin with 12:05 remaining put the Knights up
22-7. The Knights then began to exploit their height advantage in the post as
senior post players Julia Hilbrands, Carissa Verkaik, and Ally Wolffis scored
the next 21 points for Calvin.
Another trey from Irwin ended the scoring for Calvin as it headed into half
with a 46-16 advantage. Hilbrands led all scorers with 13 points as she was 6-6
from the field. Verkaik added 12 points and six rebounds.
With the sizable leading coming out of the break, the Calvin bench saw
extensive playing time in the second half. Matching up against the Belles first
unit for much of the second period, the Knights held their own and continued to
extend their lead. Calvin's largest lead came with 6:45 remaining in the game
on a layup by sophomore Hannah Acre that pushed the gap to 77-39.
The Knights played strong defense the remainder of the way, holding off the
Belles en route to a 84-54 victory.
Carissa Verkaik led all players with 19 points and nine rebounds, while
Hilbrands added 15 points on 7-for-7 shooting and seven boards. Irwin chipped
in nine while sophomore Abby Vander Woude added eight. Shanlynn Bias led the
Belles with 13 points and eight rebounds.
“From an offensive stand point, we did really well. Julia had a great game,
didn't miss a shot and had 15 points in 12 minutes. Carissa hit most of her
shots and all three of her shots in the second half,” said head coach John
Ross. “I thought we did a nice job, although we started off giving them four
quick offensive rebounds, that we didn't give them any offensive rebounds the
rest of the half. And that is one of their strengths, holding them to ten with
our second and third units, that was pretty good.”
The Knights now look forward to Saturday when they will host the Comets of
Olivet, with tip-off slated for 3 p.m.
MIAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL RECORDS THROUGH 2-6-13 GAMES
Calvin 13-0
Hope 13-1
Olivet 10-4
Adrian 5-8
Albion 5-8
Alma 5-8
Trine 5-8
Saint Mary’s 3-11
Kalamazoo 1-12
MORE MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
The first set of NCAA III regional rankings for men’s and women’s basketball
have been released and both Calvin teams are regionally-ranked.
In the women’s Great Lakes Regional poll, Calvin is ranked third behind Ohio
Northern and DePauw. On the men’s side, Calvin is ranked fourth in the Great
Lakes Regional poll behind Thomas More, Ohio Wesleyan and Wooster.
The women’s regional polls can be found online at:
http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-women/d3/regional_rankings.
The men’s regional polls can be found online at:
http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d3/regional_rankings.
Both Calvin teams are currently nationally-ranked. The Calvin men are ranked
13th in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 poll while the Calvin women are
ranked second in both the D3hoops.com poll and the WBCA Division III Coaches’
poll.
Received on Wed Feb 6 23:59:13 2013
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