CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB. 22, 2014
Basketball Teams Close Out MIAA Campaigns With Saturday Victories;
Men's Lacrosse Falls at Benedictine - Women's Tennis Drops Weekend Matches to Regionally-Ranked Foes;
ACHA Hockey Team Falls Just Short of Berth to National Tournament
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 83, Albion 57
By Mark DeHaan
The Knights hosted the Britons of Albion in their regular season finale on Saturday afternoon. Both teams entered with their spots secured in the MIAA Tournament, and with Calvin earning the second seed, and Albion the third seed, the teams are set to meet this upcoming Wednesday night as well.
The Knights honored their three seniors, Mickey DeVries (Lansing/Lansing Christian HS), Tyler Kruis (Grand Rapids/Calvin Christian HS), and Jordan Mast (Holland/Holland Christian HS) before the game.
With a strong first half, Calvin jumped out to an early double-digit lead and never looked back, leading from start-to-finish as the Knights routed the Britons 83-57.
Calvin played strong defense to open the game, holding a 12-2 advantage with 15:14 left in the first, forcing Albion into a timeout.
The Knights continued to harass the Britons shooters, and it wasn't until 9:34 remaining in the first that Albion hit double-digits, with Calvin holding a 23-10 lead.
At halftime, the Knights lead ballooned to 47-21 as the Britons were held to just 30% shooting, 1-of-9 from behind three-point range.
Kruis led all scorers at half with 12 points, while junior Tyler Dykstra (Holland/Holland Christian HS) had 10. Calvin shot 60.7% in the first, 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line.
Out of the break, the Knights built their lead to 55-25 on an "and-1" by Dykstra.
A surge by Albion cut the Britons deficit to 65-46 with 9:43 left in the game, but Calvin responded with a 5-0 run and the Britons came no closer as the Knights claimed an 83-57 victory.
Calvin hit 50.9% of its field goals, 8-of-18 from long range, and also outrebounded Albion 40-28 in the win.
Kruis and Dykstra each scored 15 points to pace the Knights, setting a new career-high for Dykstra. Junior Jordan Brink (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) added 13 points while freshman Brad Visser (Grand Rapids/Calvin Christian HS) had 10 off the bench.
Dakota Kazen, Travell Oakes, and Jordan Herron all scored 11 points for Albion while Eric Evans added 10.
"That was a really good game - just what the doctor ordered. We came out and played well, played really good defense and did a really nice job on the boards, I'm not sure we could play much better than we did in the first half. Overall, it was a pretty good 40 minutes for us," said head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "I said to the guys that on Monday, not only does the MIAA Tournament start but the NCAA Tournament starts, because there won't be any at-large bids for us. Every game now is a win-or-be-done scenario."
With the win, Calvin improves to 20-5 overall and 12-2 in the MIAA, while Albion drops to 14-11 overall and 8-6 in conference. It is the second season in a row that the Knights have hit the 20-win plateau, and the 17th time in program history.
With his 15 points on Saturday, Kruis also moved past Kim Campbell and Jim Timmer into 16th place on the Calvin career scoring list.
The Knights now look forward to Wednesday when they will again host the Britons at Van Noord Arena as they face-off in the first round of the MIAA Tournament. Wednesday night's contest is set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
FINAL MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS
Hope 13-1
Calvin 12-2
Albion 8-6
Trine 8-6
Alma 6-8
Kalamazoo 5-9
Olivet 3-11
Adrian 1-13
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 72, Kalamazoo 57
KALAMAZOO - Calvin closed out its regular season campaign with a 72-57 victory at Kalamazoo College, boosting its overall season record to 18-7 and completing its MIAA season at 12-4 - good for third place in the final league standings.
Calvin led 37-29 at halftime and then ripped of a 20-2 scoring run to open the second half to put the game away. Junior Kayla Engelhard (Unionville/Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS) had six points in the run while junior Maria DeKuiper (Bradenton, FL/Bradenton Christian HS) had five to fuel the scoring surge.
Calvin forced Kalamazoo (12-12 overall, 8-8 MIAA) into 28 turnovers and scored 36 of its 72 points off of turnovers to help gain the win.
"I thought Kalamazoo played us very tough in the first half and I expected that as this was their 'Senior Day' and I knew they would be playing with emotion," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross. "I thought we did a pretty good job of staying the course and holding off their energy and then we really put our foot down to open the second half. I really respect the way Kalamazoo has improved as a team and as a program this year. To come out of here with a road win is not easy and we'll take this result."
Calvin was led in scoring by junior Breanna Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) who pumped in a game-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting while also blocking four shots and grabbing five rebounds. Engelhard and sophomore Kally Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) had eight points apiece while DeKuiper and junior Hannah Acre (DeWitt/DeWitt HS) had seven points apiece. Acre also ripped down a game-high 11 rebounds as the Knights held a 43-39 rebounding advantage.
Kalamazoo was led in scoring by Perri Nicholson with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Calvin will now prepare for the MIAA Tournament next week as the Knights travel to Olivet next Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
FINAL MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS
Hope 16-0
Olivet 14-2
Calvin 12-4
Adrian 9-7
Kalamazoo 8-8
Albion 5-11
Saint Mary's 5-11
Trine 3-13
Alma 0-16
MEN'S LACROSSE
Benedictine 14, Calvin 2
LISLE, IL - Calvin dipped to 0-2 on the year with a 14-2 loss at Benedictine University Saturday afternoon.
Benedictine led 6-0 at halftime and then outscored Calvin 6-0 in the third quarter to seal the win.
Benedictine outshot Calvin 43-30. The Knights received goals from freshman Andrew Haan (Holland/Holland Christian HS) and freshman Joel Schaefer (Clarksville, MD/Annapolis Area Christian HS). Haan and junior Tim Marco (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) were also credited with one assist apiece.
Senior Casey Harless (DeWitt/DeWitt HS) had 15 saves in goal for the Knights.
Sophomore Tyler DeKryger (Cadillac/Cadillac HS) scooped up 12 ground balls for Calvin while Schaefer was 3-for-6 on faceoff opportunities.
Calvin will now prepare to face Defiance College next Saturday at 1 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to be played in Grand Rapids but will now be played in Ohio because of more favorable field conditions.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
WHEATON, IL - The Calvin women's tennis team dropped an 8-1 decision to regionally-ranked Coe College of Iowa on Saturday to dip to 1-2 on the year. On Friday, Calvin dropped a 9-0 decision to regionally-ranked Wheaton College of Illinois.
Calvin's lone point came at number-four singles as freshman Ellie Benzel (San Dimas, CA/San Dimas HS) as she claimed a hard-fought 6-3, 2-6, 10-8 win over Diannah Watson. Calvin returns to action next Friday when it hosts Aquinas in a non-conference dual match.
ACHA HOCKEY
By Zach Zwart
BAUER - On a night where two teams were evenly matched the fourth-seeded Adrian Bulldogs came away with the victory over the fifth-seeded Knights in a regional tournament game Saturday night. Adrian's Scott Schueneman (#10) scored the lone goal that would push the Bulldogs onto the National Tournament ending the Knights season with a 1-0 loss.
The Knights came out slow to start the game and with that slow start they allowed a goal in the first period, which would be the only goal of the game. Chris Schornack of the Bulldogs stopped the Knights with his second shutout of the year.
Coach Mike Petrusma complemented his Calvin team on playing hard and competing during the game. "We really grew up a lot this whole season and tonight was an indication of that. We came out with a slow first period, but picked up as the game went on."
In his last game as a Knight, Senior Evan Koetje was asked on his experience over the past four years. He said, "It's been a new family ever year and it was unlike any other team...it's unexplainable." Koetje being the lone senior on this in experienced team said that it has been interesting to lead a group this young and see how they have developed over this season.
The Knights finish the year 15-9-1 and 3rd place in the MCHC West conference.
Received on Sat Feb 22 23:38:29 2014
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