CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR JANUARY 28, 2015
Basketball Teams Claim Wednesday Night Wins Over Albion
MEN'S BASKETBALL
By Gina de Haan
On Wednesday evening the Calvin men's basketball team hosted the Britons of Albion College in the first matchup this season between the two MIAA teams. Despite a late second-half comeback by the Britons, it was the Knights who were victorious, defeating the visitors 71-67.
Jordan Brink (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) hit the first shot of the game, a three-pointer, to give the Knights an early lead, but Albion was reluctant to let that lead grow. The two teams remained within three points of one another for just under three-fourths of the first half.
With 8:05 remaining in the half, Calvin began to pull away. A jumper by Jordan Daley tied the score at seventeen and another bucket from Daley would give the Knights the lead. Brad Visser (Grand Rapids/Calvin Christian HS) contributed to the run with a three-pointer. Brink followed, earning a steal and finishing on a fast-break layup. Visser then hit another three to cap off the Knights run, giving his team a 27-17 lead late in the first half.
Albion battled back, but with twelve seconds remaining in the first half, Jordan Brink sunk another three to give Calvin a fourteen-point lead. The Knights played solid defense in the final seconds of the half; Dan Stout (Escondido, CA/Escondido Calvin Christian HS) swatted away a last-second layup attempt by Albion's Robert Ryan, and the Knights headed into the locker room with a 35-21 advantage.
Jordan Brink recorded twelve points in the first half. Dan Stout added seven points, shooting 3-5 from the floor and 1-2 from the line, while Jordan Daley (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) chipped in six and was 3-3 from field goal range. Stout finished the first half with five rebounds while Daley snagged four.
The Knights came out of the break with their first half momentum. Early in the second half of the contest, Stout hit a jumper and Daley made two free-throws to give the Knights a sixteen-point lead, their largest of the game.
However, the Britons weren't willing to give the Knights an easy win. With 15:59 remaining, Zach Hurth hit a three-pointer, cutting Calvin's lead to ten (43-33). The Britons continued to chip away, and with 3:52 left in the game, a three-pointer from Robert Ryan made the score 59-53.
Calvin's Michael Welch (Stevensville/Stevensville-Lakeshore HS) quickly answered Ryan's bucket, capitalizing on a three-point play.
With just over a minute remaining in the game and Calvin up 64-54, the Britons made one final attempt at a comeback. Albion's Robert Ryan and Corey Wheeler both hit three-pointers, followed by a pair of free throws from Dakota Kazen to cut Calvin's lead to three points (65-62).
Jordan Daley responded for the Knights, swatting away an attempted layup by Albion's Zach Hurth with twenty-one seconds left on the game clock.
In the final seventeen seconds of the game, the Knights went 6-6 from the free throw line to hold off the visitors, despite their late scoring efforts. Although Albion outscored their hosts 46-36 in the second half, it was not enough to overcome Calvin's first half lead.
"We did a nice job to get up nine or 10 but then made a few mistakes down the stretch but I have to give Albion credit for battling back," said Calvin men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek. "Overall I thought we did a good job. This was a big game because we knew Albion would be tough. To come out on top feels good."
Jordan Brink led the Knights in scoring with nineteen points. Jordan Daley recorded a double-double, contributing twelve points and ten rebounds to the Knights' effort. Daniel Stout also had a solid all-around game, finishing with twelve points, six boards, three blocks, and two steals.
Connor VanderBrug (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS) added eleven points and Austin Parks (Niles/Niles HS) dished out five assists.
Zach Hurth and Travell Oakes led Albion in scoring with thirteen points apiece; Hurth also had seven rebounds, while Oakes finished with six.
On Saturday, the Calvin men's basketball team will travel to Alma College to take on the Scots (5-13 overall, 3-4 MIAA), the second meeting between the two MIAA teams this season. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 75, Albion 44
ALBION - The 7th-ranked Calvin women's basketball team remained unbeaten and stayed atop the MIAA standings with a 75-44 victory at Albion Wednesday night.
The Knights are now 18-0 on the year and 9-0 in the MIAA, a half-game ahead of 9-1 Hope.
After falling behind 5-0 early to Albion, the Knights scored eight unanswered points to take an 8-5 lead. Leading 19-15, Calvin then ripped off a 20-2 run to take a 39-17 lead.
Calvin led 42-21 at halftime and then extended its lead to 32 points at 60-28 early in the second half, coasting the rest of the way to the win.
Calvin was led in the win by senior Breanna Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) who pumped in 22 points on 9 of 15 shooting including 4 of 9 from three-point range while also grabbing six rebounds and blocking three shots.
Senior Kayla Engelhard (Unionville/Saginaw Valley Lutheran HS) and sophomore Anna Timmer (Caledonia/South Christian HS) had 13 points apiece. Senior Hannah Acre (DeWitt/DeWitt HS) had six points and a team-high nine rebounds. Junior Abby Springer (Vernon Hills, IL/Vernon Hills HS) and sophomore MacKenzie Shelton (Niles/Brandywine HS)) had six assists apiece with Springer also collecting four steals.
Albion was led in defeat by Catie Neary with 13 points while Darian Payne had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Calvin held a 43-35 rebounding advantage and shot 47 percent from the floor while Albion (10-8 overall, 4-6 MIAA) shot just 28.1 percent overall.
"Anytime we can go on the road and get a conference victory it's big," said Calvin women's basketball coach John Ross. "Albion came out with a lot of energy and had us on our heels early. To our credit we bounced back and hit some shots. Once we knocked down a couple of shots from the perimeter it opened up the game for us offensively. I thought we did a good job of sharing the basketball. We have to keep grinding because we have some difficult league games ahead of us."
Calvin will now prepare to travel to Trine on Saturday for a key MIAA matchup set to start at 3 p.m. at Trine's Hershey Hall.
Received on Wed Jan 28 22:52:33 2015
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