CKSR (Calvin Knight Saturday Sports Report for Feb. 23, 2013)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB. 23, 2013

Men's Basketball Defeats Hope in MIAA Tournament Final;
Women's Basketball Falls to Hope in MIAA Tournament Final;
Women's Tennis Defeated by Coe;
Men's Lacrosse defeated by Benedictine
Men's and Women's Track and Field Take First at Benedictine Invitational

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Calvin 77, Hope 57
By Mitch Blankespoor

Story by Mitch Blankespoor
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Calvin played host the Flying Dutchmen Hope Sat. night at
the Van Noord Arena in the MIAA Tournament final. The meeting marked the 186th
time the two rivals have played. Coming into the game, the Knights were just
1-8 against Hope in MIAA Tournament final games. Despite its record, Calvin
defeated Hope 77-57 in front of 4,293 fans to win its first MIAA Tournament
title since 2007.
Hope, which came into the contest with an 18-8 record, gained the early lead
with a layup from senior forward Nate Snuggerud (Zeeland/Zeeland East) on the
Flying Dutchmen’s first possession. Calvin sophomore Jordan Brink (Dyer,
IN/Illiana Christian) answered on a drive and layup with three seconds
remaining on the shot clock. Brink converted on the old fashioned three-point
play, and the Knights led 3-2 in the first minute.
Hope would lead by as many as five in the first half, but a layup from junior
center Tyler Kruis (Grandville/Calvin Christian) with 10:27 remaining gave
Calvin a lead it would not relinquish. With the game tied at 17 with 7:34
remaining, Calvin went on a 7-0 run in a little over a minute to take a 24-17
lead. The Knights would take a 36-28 lead into halftime.
Snuggerud led all scorers at the break with 10 points. Calvin senior guard
Bryan Powell (Wyoming/Wyoming Park) scored nine while Snikkers tallied seven
points and three steals. Senior point guard David Rietema had five points and
four assists.
As a team, Calvin, ranked 15th in the most recent poll by d3hoops.com, tallied
eight offensive rebounds, and turned the ball over just three times in the
first half.
“We came out with great fire and intensity,” said Calvin head coach Kevin
Vande Streek in a postgame interview. “After the game in Holland, we really
stressed getting on the boards and taking care of the basketball.”
As the second half began, Hope cut Calvin’s lead to eight on two separate
occasions, but Calvin was not to be denied. Snikkers started off the second
half scoring seven straight points.
A 15-8 run concluding with a deep three-pointer from Powell put the Knights up
by 20 with 11:27 remaining. Calvin held that lead to victory.
“Tommy had a great second half,” said Vande Streek. “He scored and rebounded
well.”
Snikkers finished with 17 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Powell finished with 18 points while Kruis finished with 11 points and 11
rebounds.
“Back in Holland, I didn’t lead by example,” said Snikkers. “I didn’t get it
done on an emotional level. I made sure to bring that tonight.”
Snuggerud finished with 17 points and seven rebounds in defeat. Hope head
coach Matt Neil had good words to say about the Knight’s performance.
“I thought Calvin was very good tonight,” said Neil in a postgame interview.
“They won all the 50-50 balls. I give them a lot of credit.”
The Knights shot 45.5 percent from the field while holding the Flying Dutchmen
to 33.3 percent shooting and just 1-14 from beyond the arc. Calvin also held a
41-32 rebounding advantage.
“I give all the credit to our bigs,” Powell said. “I’m the lucky one that
gets to shoot. They do all the work down low, and did a phenomenal job
tonight.
With its win, Calvin, now 24-3, earns the MIAA’s automatic qualifier to the
NCAA III Men’s Basketball Tournament - a tournament Calvin has not appeared in
since the 2006-07 season.
The tournament field will be announced at 12:30 EST Monday, Feb. 25, on a live
video stream courtesy of ncaa.com.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Hope 62, Calvin 59
By Mark DeHaan

The MIAA Tournament Championship pitted the #3 Calvin College Knights and #2
Hope Flying Dutch in the third installment of the rivalry this season. It was
the eighth time the two teams have met in the Tournament Championship, with
Hope holding a 5-2 edge but losing the last two championship contests. After
forty hard-fought minutes, it was the Flying Dutch who came out on top,
utilizing strong team defense to earn a 62-59 victory.

Hope jumped out to a 6-2 lead on a layup by senior Liz Ellis. Calvin responded
with a layup from senior Ally Wolffis and a pair of free throws from senior
Carissa Verkaik to tie the game at 6-6.
The teams continued to play neck-and-neck until a three-pointer from senior
Logan Marsh gave Calvin a 20-16 advantage.

Calvin then reeled off six more points to take a 26-16 lead. Hope continued to
fight, not allowing the lead to grow any larger. With less than thirty seconds
remaining, Calvin held the ball and a 30-24 lead.
A missed shot by the Knights with twenty seconds left gave the Flying Dutch a
chance to cut the lead.

A foul on Calvin then put Hope at the line for two free-throws. After making
both free-throws, the Flying Dutch stole the inbounds pass and hit a layup as
time expired to cut the Knights lead to 30-28 and steal the momentum heading
into the break.

Verkaik led all scorers at the intermission with 13 points while grabbing nine
rebounds. Senior Courtney Kust led Hope with 11 points.

Out of the break, Calvin took a six point lead on an Wolffis layup at 36-30.
Hope responded with a 10-1 run to take a 40-37 lead, all ten points coming from
Kust.

The Knights retook the lead at 41-40 with 13:46 remaining in the contest. The
Knights then went more than four minutes without a point as the Flying Dutch
grabbed a 46-42 lead.

Hope continued to pull away, building its largest lead of the game at eight
with 7:11 remaining, the score at 54-46 and both teams in the bonus.

Free-throw shooting was key down the stretch for both squads. With momentum
swinging back and forth, Verkaik cut Hope's lead down to four with 2:22
remaining.

Answering for the Flying Dutch was none other than Kust, who played to a
career high in points. Kust expanded the lead to six on a layup with just under
two minutes remaining.

Five free throws over the next minute-and-a-half for the Knights saw the Hope
edge cut to one at 59-60.
Senior Liz Ellis then hit two free throws to expand the Flying Dutch lead to
62-59. A missed three-pointer by sophomore Kayla Engelhard with four seconds
remaining gave Hope the ball. Ellis was then fouled and sent to the charity
stripe.

Ellis missed both free throws, but on the ensuing rebound, the Knights could
not muster a shot and Hope took the 62-59 victory.

Carissa Verkaik scored 24 points and grabbed 13 boards for Calvin. Wolffis
scored nine on 4-for-4
shooting while senior Logan Marsh added six on a pair of triples.

Kust had an unbelievable game of 29 points and six rebounds, leading all
scorers. Ellis added eight points while Rebekah Llorens chipped in six for the
Flying Dutch.

Calvin turned the ball over 19 times as opposed to just 14 times for Hope. The
Knights shot 20-of-30 from the free-throw line and 17-of-48 overall.

“I think it’s just a good battle before the NCAA Tournament. I thought we had
some great looks, they just didn't go in,” said Calvin head coach John Ross.
“Hope pressured us, and they were pretty physical. We had our chances, it
just didn't work out for us.”

“It was an awesome game, two great teams. Often times, your league
championship or the rivalry doesn't live up to the billing, but today, I think
it lived up to the billing and then some,” said Hope head coach Brian
Morehouse. “It was a back-and-forth battle, both teams played with incredible
effort.”

Calvin now awaits the Division III Tournament selection show Monday at 2:30
p.m. to find out if they make the tournament, and if so, where they will play.
Calvin finishes the season at 23-3 overall while Hope moves to 26-1.

WOMEN’S TENNIS
Coe 9, Calvin 0

WHEATON, IL – The Calvin women’s tennis team dropped a 9-0 decision to
regionally-ranked Coe College Saturday afternoon. Calvin is now 1-2 on the
year. Calvin will face Davenport at home on March 8.

Box Score:
http://www.calvin.edu/sports/womens/tennis/results/2013/10-calw.htm

MEN’S LACROSSE

CALEDONIA – The Calvin men’s lacrosse team dropped a 12-1 decision to
Benedictine University Saturday afternoon at Davenport University. The Knights
are now 0-4 on the year. Calvin returns to action next Saturday when it travels
to Defiance for a 1 p.m. game.

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

ANGOLA, IN – The Calvin men’s and women’s track and field teams took first
place at the Trine Invitational with the women’s team posting a total of 172
points while the men’s team recorded 172.5 points.

Results are available online at: http://www.tfrrs.org/results/27541.html

A full recap will be sent out later this weekend.
Received on Sat Feb 23 23:54:34 2013