CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 3, 2013
Men's Basketball Headed to UW-Steven Point for Second Round NCAA III Tournament Game
MEN'S BASKETBALL
The Calvin men's basketball team is headed to Wisconsin-Stevens Point for a second round NCAA III Tournament game on Saturday, March 9. The game time has been set for 8 p.m. (EST) - 7 p.m. (CST).
Calvin will be facing each other for just the second time in school history and for the first time in NCAA III Tournament history. The two teams nearly met in the NCAA III Tournament in 2005 as both teams reached the Final Four but Calvin was defeated by Rochester in the semifinals with Stevens Point later defeated Rochester in the subsequent national championship game.
The only prior meeting came during the 1969-70 season with Calvin defeating the Pointers 77-63.
Wisconsin-Stevens Point is a member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). Calvin is 4-2 all-time against WIAC opponents including 2-0 in NCAA III Tournament play. Calvin captured the 2000 national championship with a 79-74 win over Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the title tilt and also defeated Wisconsin-Lacrosse 79-71 in a first round NCAA III Tournament game in 2006. Including regular season contests, Calvin is 1-1 lifetime against Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 1-1 against Wisconsin-Lacrosse, 1-0 against Wisconsin-River Falls and 1-0 against Wisconsin-Steven Point.
Wisconsin-Stevens Point (22-5) reached the second round of the NCAA III Tournament with a 71-54 first round win over Northwestern (MN) Saturday night. Calvin (25-3) advanced to the second round with a 72-52 first round win at Rose-Hulman Saturday night.
Calvin gained an automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament by winning the MIAA Tournament title just over a week ago. The Knights were also MIAA regular season champions with a 13-1 conference record. Wisconsin-Steven Point fell in the WIAC Conference Tournament semifinal game but received an at-large bid to the NCAA III Tournament. Wisconsin-Steven Point captured the WIAC regular season championship with a 14-2 conference mark.
Calvin features a balanced scoring attack led by senior Tom Snikkers who averages 13.5 points a game. Snikkers, who ranks eighth on the Calvin career scoring list (1,440 points), scored a game-high 20 points in Saturay's win at Rose-Hulman. He is a three-time first team All-MIAA selection including a first team choice this year. Junior center Tyler Kruis averages 12.6 points and 6.1 rebounds a game. Also a first team All-MIAA choice this year, senior Bryan Powell averages 11.8 points per contest. He scored 16 against Rose-Hulman. Sophomore guard Jordan Brink is also in double-figures, averaging 10.3 points per contest.
Calvin entered the NCAA III Tournament leading the nation in rebound margin, outboarding opponents by 12.2 rebounds a game.
Wisconsin-Stevens Point is led in scoring by junior Trevor Haas who averages 12.0 points a game while sophomore Joe Ritchay averages 11.0 points and junior Clayton Heuer 10.5 points a game. Haas and Heuer were both named to the All-WIAC team this year.
Wisconsin-Stevens Point entered the NCAA III Tournament ranked second nationally in free throw percentage (.771) and fourth in fewest turnovers per game (10.0).
Calvin is ranked 12th nationally by D3hoops.com while Wisconsin-Stevens Point is ranked 14th.
Received on Sun Mar 3 16:11:39 2013
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