CKSR (Men's Basketball Defeated by Carthage at MIAA/CCIW Challenge / Swimming and Diving Teams Continue Strong Showing at Calvin Winter Invite)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 6, 2013

Men's Basketball Defeated by Carthage at MIAA/CCIW Challenge;
Swimming and Diving Teams Continue Strong Performances at Calvin Winter Invite

MEN'S BASKETBALL
By Mark DeHaan

The Calvin men's basketball team hosted a basketball tournament for the third straight weekend at Van Noord Arena, playing Carthage College in the second game of the MIAA-CCIW Challenge. Using a strong second half effort, Carthage defeated Calvin 74-68. In the first matchup of the night, Wheaton defeated Hope 80-61.

The Knights entered Friday night's contest ranked #9 in the nation with a 5-1 overall record, while the Red Men of Carthage were 3-2.

In nine previous meetings with Carthage, Calvin was 5-4. The Knights, despite holding a lead at halftime, fell for the second time of the season. Calvin allowed 46 points in the second half in a 74-68 defeat as the Red Men evened the series 5-5.

The opening four minutes were very defensive as Calvin led just 8-4, including two on an impressive alley-oop from sophomore B.J. Van Loo to junior Tyler Dykstra.

Carthage took the lead at 11-10 with 13:06 remaining, but the Knights responded and a pair of free throws by senior Mickey DeVries, who had nine early points, gave Calvin a 26-21 advantage.

The Knights continued to hold the lead for the remainder of the first half and took a 35-28 lead into halftime.

Senior Tyler Kruis led Calvin with 12 points at the break while DeVries added nine. The Knights shot 48% in the first half while Carthage shot 45.5%. Calvin held the Red Men to just 1-for-7 from behind the arc.

Out of the break, Carthage quickly cut the deficit as Calvin came out flat and the Red Men hit their first four shot attempts from behind the three-point line, taking a 49-48 lead with 14:11 remaining in regulation.

After the teams traded the lead a number of times, Carthage took control and built a ten point lead at 68-58 with 5:27 to go.

The Knights responded with a 9-0 run to cut the Red Men's lead to 68-67 with 1:42 remaining.
Unfortunately, Calvin was outscored 6-1 down the stretch and Carthage claimed a 74-68 win, handing the Knights their second loss of the season.

Carthage shot 51.0% for the game, including 5-for-7 from three-point range in the second half. The Knights were 0-for-4 from behind the arc in the second period, but did shoot 48.1% for the game. Calvin received just five points from bench players.

Kruis led all scorers with 26 points while grabbing seven rebounds. DeVries had a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards.

Marlon Senior led the Red Men with 25 points and seven rebounds, playing all 40 minutes while Reese Herth scored 12. Mike Kastel chipped in eight points and 10 rebounds.

"There was a four-to-five minute stretch in the second half where we lost our urgency defensively. They made some tough shots too, and I give them credit. You play good teams and you can't have that stretch," said head coach Kevin VandeStreek. "I thought we did a nice job, it just would've been nice to come out on top. Hopefully, we can respond on a quick turnaround and come back and play well tomorrow (against Wheaton)."

Calvin, now 5-2, faces Wheaton tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. in the final contest of the Challenge. The Thunder come in with a record of 5-2 but are ranked #13 in the latest top 25 poll. In the first matchup of the afternoon, Hope plays Carthage at 1 p.m.

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

The Calvin men's swimming and diving team continued its strong performance at the Calvin Winter Invitational on Friday, maintaining a hold on second place in the overall team standings with 308 points, 5.5 points ahead of third place Wabash and 12 points ahead of fourth place Kalamazoo. Grand Valley holds the lead with 751 points.

Sophomore Caleb Meindertsma (Annondale, VA/Trinity Christian HS) set his second school record in as many days, clocking in with a time of 4:07.48 in the 400 IM prelims Friday morning, breaking the previous record of 4:08.41 set by Brad Flikkema in 1998. The prelim time by Meindertsma was also an NCAA III B' cut qualifying time. In the evening finals, Meindertsma placed third in a time of 4:08.51.

Other top-eight individual finishes for the Calvin men included freshman Brett Stoughton (Centerville, IN/Centerville HS) in the 200 butterfly with a fourth place time of 1:53.19 and freshman Dirk Tanis (Holland/Holland Christian HS) on the one-meter diving board with a fourth place score of 342.50.

Calvin's 200 freestyle relay team of sophomore Mitch Schroder (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS), senior Andrew Mitchell (Iron Mountain/Kingsford HS), freshman Eli Holstege (Kewsick, VA/Covenant HS) and junior Alex Baumann (Holland/Holland Christian HS) also took third in a time of 1:24.88.

In an individual time trial later Friday evening, sophomore Johnson Cochran blasted out a school record time of 56.09, breaking his previous record of 56.83. His time is also an NCAA B' cut qualifying time.

WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

Heading into the final day of competition, the Calvin women's swimming and diving team is in third place at the Calvin Winter Invitational with 363 points. Grand Valley leads the standings with 684 points followed by Northern Michigan with 408.

Calvin had a solid group of top-eight individual finishes on Friday. Sophomore Alayna Gallegos (Lakeville, MN/Lakeville HS) had a strong showing in the 200 butterfly, placing sixth in a time of 2:10.38. She also added a sixth place time of 4:55.02 in the 400 IM later in the evening.

Calvin also placed two in the top eight in the 200 freestyle as junior Kathryn Wrobel (Arden Hills, MN/Moundsview HS) was seventh (1:59.37) and senior Margaret Rechel (Worthington, OH/Thomas Worthington HS) eighth (2:00.85).

In the 100 breaststroke finals, sophomore Michaela Rookus (Hudsonville/Hudsonville HS) took fourth with a season-best and NCAA III B' cut qualifying time of 1:05.13. She later took fifth in the 50 freestyle with a season-best time of 24.44.

In the 100 backstroke, junior Erika Waugh (Berne, IN/South Adams HS) was fifth in a season-best time of 58.82 while senior Kristy Kinzer (Fort Wayne, IN/Homestead HS) was seventh (59.67).

In the diving competition, sophomore Lizz Roth (Brighton/Brighton HS) was sixth on the three-meter board with a score of 364.85 while junior Rebecca Mumby (Spring Lake/Spring Lake HS) was seventh (354.15) and freshman Becky Freed (Rochester Hills/Rochester Stoney Creek HS) eighth (343.50).

In the 200 freestyle relay, the Calvin quartet of freshman Adrienne Wesselius (Sioux Center, IA/Unity Christian HS), Rookus, Kinzer and Wrobel was third in a time of 1:37.30.
Received on Sat Dec 7 00:04:28 2013