CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 26, 2014
Basketball Teams Claim Victories Over Manchester Tuesday Night
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 69, Manchester 56
By Mark DeHaan
The Calvin women's basketball team hosted Manchester University on Tuesday evening, looking to knock off the Spartans in a matchup of early season unbeatens. Calvin came in at 3-0 while Manchester was 2-0.
Using the full-court press, the Knights forced the Spartans into 19 turnovers, weathering a strong second half push from Manchester to claim a 69-56 win.
Senior Kayla Engelhard (Unionville/Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS) paced Calvin to start the game, scoring seven early points to help the Knights to a 9-2 lead.
Calvin continued to hold the lead until 16-9, when a 10-0 run from the Spartans put Manchester ahead 19-16.
The Knights retook the lead at 20-19 with 8:42 to go in the first, a lead which they took into halftime at 36-29.
At the break, Engelhard led all scorers with 14 points. The Knights forced the Spartans into 12 first half turnovers.
Out of the break, Manchester opened the second half with an 8-0 run to reclaim a 37-36 lead. The Spartans held the point advantage until 41-40 with 14:06 remaining, when a 13-2 Calvin run swung the game back into the Knights favor.
With Calvin now leading 53-43, Manchester could only cut its deficit to as little as eight the rest of the way, and Calvin claimed a 69-56 victory.
The Knights forced the Spartans into 19 turnovers for the game. Calvin shot 43.4% for the game while Manchester hit 43.1% of its shots.
Individually, Engelhard scored 20 points for the Knights, adding five rebounds. Senior Breanna Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) added 15 points, nine points, and five assists, while junior Kally Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) chipped in 14 points.
For Manchester, Justine Kruger scored 12 points while Alyssa Smith tallied 10 points.
"It looked like the game might have gotten away from us midway through the second half. They broke our press really well, then we got them a couple times on the press which turned the game around," said head coach John Ross. "I'm really pleased with the performance at the end, and now we get a couple days off for Thanksgiving before taking on Finlandia, who is doing really well this year."
With the win, Calvin improves to 4-0 while Manchester falls to 2-1.
On Saturday, the women host the Lions of Finlandia at 3 p.m. in the Knights final non-conference matchup of the season. Calvin opens league play on Saturday, December 6 against Albion.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 74, Manchester 56
By Mark DeHaan
Looking to rebound from their first loss of the season, the Knights men's basketball team hosted the Spartans of Manchester University on Tuesday evening.
Despite an even opening to the game, Calvin busted the game open in the first half, seeing its lead grow to as much as 19 points. A strong surge from the Spartans in the second half then threatened the Calvin lead, but the Knights held Manchester at bay to claim a 74-56 win.
The teams fought evenly through the opening six minutes of the contest, with Calvin gaining just a single-point advantage with 14:06 to go in the first.
The next five minutes was all Knights. An 18-0 run for Calvin, with seven Knights contributing points, allowed Calvin to build a 29-10 lead.
Holding on to the double-digit advantage through the rest of the half, the Knights led 42-26 at the break.
Sophomore Brad Visser (Grand Rapids/Calvin Christian HS) had nine points at the break to lead Calvin, while senior Jordan Brink (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) added eight in the opening stanza.
In the second half, a 7-0 run out of the half saw the Knights build its largest lead of the game at 47-26.
Manchester then began to slowly chip away at Calvin's lead. With 14:27 to go, the Spartans cut their deficit to 50-35.
Ninety seconds later, back-to-back threes by Manchester's Brody Kirby brought the Spartans to within ten at 51-41 with 12:59 remaining.
A three-pointer from Brink brought Calvin's lead back up to 62-43 with 9:50 to go, but Manchester still wouldn't go away.
Playing strong defense, the Spartans held the Knights more than six minutes without a field goal. In that span, Manchester drew to within six, bringing the score to 62-56.
A three-pointer by junior Austin Parks (Niles/Niles HS) broke the dry spell with 3:13 to go, and Calvin regained a double-digit lead at 66-56.
The Knights then scored the final eight points of the contest, closing out a 74-56 victory.
Ranked 10th by D3hoops.com, Calvin played strong defense all game long, holding the Spartans to 34.5% shooting. The Knights shot 38.2% themselves, also out-rebounding the Spartans 46-39.
Calvin was led on offense by Brink who scored 23 points. Junior Jordan Daley (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) added a near triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, while Visser was also in double figures with 12 points.
Matt Brown led the Spartans with 14 points while Brody Kirby chipped in 11.
"It was great to get back in the win column. When it was all said and done, we won by 18, and you have to feel really good," said head coach Kevin VandeStreek. "I thought defensively we were better. That is a good offensive team and a hard team to guard."
The Knights improve to 3-1 with the win while the Spartans fall to 1-3.
With his 23-point effort, Brink moved past Kevin Broene and into 19th place on the Calvin career scoring list, boosting his career total to 1,057 points. Brink also netted five three-point field goals in the win, boosting his career total to 191. Brink moved past Chris Knoester on the all-time Calvin three-point field goal list Tuesday night and is now tied for third place with Matt Veltema.
Calvin now looks forward to this weekend when it will take part in the annual Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame Tournament. The Knights will face off with the Aquinas College Saints Friday evening at 8 p.m., then play the Cornerstone College Golden Eagles on Saturday at 6 p.m. All games will be played at Aquinas College.
Received on Wed Nov 26 00:20:26 2014
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