CKSR (Men's Basketball Weathers the Storm to Defeat Olivet 95-53)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR JAN. 25 2014

Men's Basketball Weathers the Storm to Defeat Olivet 95-53 - Sets Up Showdown for First Wednesday at Albion

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 95, Olivet 53
By Mark DeHaan

The Calvin men's basketball team weathered the winter storm and traveled to Olivet on Saturday afternoon to face the Comets in a MIAA contest. After a low-scoring first half, the Knights exploded in the second, shooting better than 60% and scoring 59 points, to claim a 95-53 victory.

Calvin took an early 6-0 lead, forcing a Comets timeout. Olivet responded by hitting a pair of triples, tying the game up at 8-8.

A 15-5 run for the Knights, with seven points scored by senior Mickey DeVries, then gave Calvin a 23-13 lead with 7:18 remaining in the first half. The teams played level over the final seven minutes and change, and the Knights took a 36-26 lead into the half despite shooting 0-for-8 from three-point range.

Senior Tyler Kruis had 11 points at the break while DeVries had nine. The Knights shot 45.2% from the field in the opening period even with their three-point troubles.

Out of the break, Calvin opened up the second half with a 13-0 run, including the team's first two three-pointers of the game, to take a commanding 49-26 lead.

The Knights hot shooting continued no matter who was out on the floor, and by the end of the contest,

Calvin's lead expanded to 42 and the Knights routed the Comets by a final score of 95-53.

The Knights shot 53.8% for the game, 61.8% in the second half, while dominating Olivet on the glass, 55-29. Calvin hit 5-of-6 shots from three point range in the second half.

DeVries led all scorers with 21 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Kruis added 15 and six rebounds while junior Jordan Brink scored 13.TJ Vondette and Robert Shields each scored nine points to lead Olivet in scoring.

"I think we came out at the beginning of the game with good energy, and we were enthused, but in the second half, we really played well," said head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "For some reason, we had gotten away from setting up Mickey down low, but we did a good job of doing that in the second half."

Calvin improves to 13-4 and 5-1 in the MIAA with the win, tied with Albion for first place after the Britons defeated Trine 68-65. Hope will have a chance to keep pace on Monday night after its Saturday matchup with Kalamazoo was postponed. Olivet falls to 3-13 and 1-4 in conference with the loss.

The Knights now look forward to Wednesday when they will face the Britons in a first-place game at Albion. Wednesday night's game is scheduled for 8 p.m. and will follow a Calvin-Albion matchup in women's basketball to be played at 6 p.m.

MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-25-14 GAMES

Albion 5-1
Calvin 5-1
Hope 4-1
Trine 3-3
Kalamazoo 2-3
Alma 1-3
Olivet 1-4
Adrian 0-5
Received on Sat Jan 25 20:07:39 2014