CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR JAN. 15, 2014
Women's Basketball Hits 90-Point Plateau Again in Win at Saint Mary's;
Men's Basketball Moves Into Share of MIAA Lead With Win Over Adrian
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 95, Saint Mary's 68
NOTRE DAME, IN - The Calvin women's basketball team has suddenly found a new offensive gear. For the second consecutive game, the Knights hit the 90-point plateau, this time in a 95-68 victory at Saint Mary's College Wednesday night.
The victory came on the heels of a 91-31 win over Alma on Saturday.
The win lifts Calvin's overall record to 9-5 and its conference mark to 4-2 as the Knights near the mid-point of the league schedule. Calvin currently sits in a tie for third place with Kalamazoo in the league standings with the Hornets slated to come to Calvin on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tilt.
Calvin broke open a tight game with a 33-17 run that allowed the Knights to take a 51-31 halftime lead.
Saint Mary's 4-11 overall, 2-4 MIAA) was able to whittle the deficit down to nine points at 64-55 early in the second half but then the Knights reeled off 10 unanswered points to regain control of the contest and put the game on ice.
"Saint Mary's is a tough place to play and anytime we can get a win down here it feels good," said Calvin head coach John Ross. "Saint Mary's came at us hard to start the second half and we were able to withstand their run and come back with one of our own. That was good to see. It was also good to see Kayla Engelhard come up with a real nice game offensively. This was probably her best game of the year and we're hoping this will help keep her moving forward."
Engelhard (Unionville/Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS) finished with a season-high 23 points, hitting on 8-of-13 from the field including 6-of-10 in the first half. She also collected four steals, dished out three assists and corralled five rebounds. Junior forward Maria DeKuiper (Bradenton, FL/Bradenton Christian HS) also had a big game with 16 points while juniors Breanna Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) and Abby VanderWoude (Hudsonville/Unity Christian HS) had 10 points apiece.
Saint Mary's was led by Krista Knapke with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Calvin held a 38-35 rebounding edge and shot 48.5 percent from the field.
MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-15-14
Hope 7-0
Olivet 5-1
Calvin 4-2
Kalamazoo 4-2
Adrian 3-3
Albion 2-4
Saint Mary's 2-4
Trine 1-5
Alma 0-7
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 78, Adrian 54
By Mark DeHaan
The Calvin men's basketball team hosted the Bulldogs of Adrian on Wednesday evening, looking to rebound from a loss to Hope last Saturday. The Knights came in at 9-4 and 1-1 in conference, while Adrian was 4-9 overall and 0-2 in the MIAA.
With a dominating performance at Van Noord Arena, Calvin returned to the winning track with a 78-54 victory over Adrian. With Albion defeating Hope on Wednesday, Calvin moves into a four-way tie for first place in the MIAA standings with Albion, Hope and Trine.
Senior Tyler Kruis (Grand Rapids/Calvin Christian HS) scored six early points for the Knights as they jumped out to a 9-5 lead. The Bulldogs cut the Calvin lead to just one at 13-12, but the Knights responded with a 10-0 run, ended by a three-pointer from junior Tyler Dykstra (Holland/Holland Christian HS), for a 23-12, double-digit advantage.
Adrian then cut its deficit to eight at 26-18 with 6:54 remaining, but a 14-4 run to end the half gave the Knights a 40-22 lead at the break.
Kruis and junior Jordan Brink (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) each had 10 points halftime as Calvin shot 59.3% in the first half. The Knights also outrebounded the Bulldogs 24-9 in the opening period.
Out of the break, Calvin picked up where it left off, opening up a 42-22 edge less than a minute in.
The Knights took their largest lead of the game with 6:11 remaining in regulation at 64-39. With the game in hand, Calvin cruised to a 78-54 victory as the Knights led from start-to-finish.
The Knights finished shooting 51.9% while dominating the Bulldogs on the boards, 47-22.
Kruis had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead the Knights offense while Brink added 13. Dykstra chipped in nine points and seven boards while sophomore BJ Van Loo (Hudsonville/Hudsonville HS) scored nine as well.
For Adrian, Ben Rodak and Rickey Jackson each had 13 points while Wesley Reed had 10.
"I'm very proud of (the team). I thought we were ready to play and we got the ball inside," said head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "You have to be ready (in the MIAA). I'm happy with our guys tonight, but tomorrow, we have to start thinking about Kalamazoo - that is no easy place to play. Records at this point don't really mean anything, you have to come ready to play and earn what you get."
Calvin improves to 10-4 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA while Adrian moves to 4-10 and 0-3 in league play. The Knights return to action on Saturday when they travel to Kalamazoo to face the Hornets. Saturday's contest is scheduled to tipoff at 3 p.m.
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-15-14 GAMES
Albion 2-1
Calvin 2-1
Hope 2-1
Trine 2-1
Olivet 1-1
Alma 1-1
Kalamazoo 1-2
Adrian 0-3
Received on Thu Jan 16 00:06:58 2014
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