CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB. 18, 2015
Basketball Teams Claim Outright MIAA Regular Season Titles With Wednesday Victories
EDITOR'S NOTE: On Wednesday night, the Calvin men's and women's basketball teams clinched outright MIAA regular season titles as the Calvin women's team defeated Hope 61-44 while the Calvin men's team defeated Olivet 87-74. Last weekend the Calvin men's and women's swimming and diving teams claimed MIAA titles by taking first place at the MIAA Championships. It marks the first time in Calvin history that the Knights have swept all four MIAA winter sports regular season titles and it marks just the second time in MIAA history that it has been accomplished. Hope was the first to do so, winning all four winter sports (MIAA) titles in 1995.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 61, Hope 44
By Gina de Haan
First place in the MIAA standing was on the line Wednesday night when the Calvin women's basketball team hosted rival Hope College.
Prior to tonight's contest, Calvin and Hope were tied with 14 MIAA regular season crowns apiece, leading the MIAA in most titles won.
Calvin entered the game ranked sixth in the nation with a 23-0 overall record and a 14-0 conference mark. Hope, ranked 11th nationally in the WBCA Coaches Poll and 13th in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, came into the contest with a 21-2 overall record, one game behind the Knights in conference action at 13-1.
The Knights defended their home court and defeated the Dutch 61-44. With this victory, Calvin clinched the outright MIAA title and earned the top seed in the MIAA tournament.
Neither team scored for nearly the first three minutes of this low-scoring game, but at the 17:14 mark, Hope's Rebekah Llorens was fouled and scored the first two points of the game off of made free throws. But Senior Hannah Acre quickly answered, scoring in the paint off of a dish from Abby Springer.
Both teams struggled to get their shots to fall early in the first half, but with just under thirteen minutes remaining, Anna Timmer hit a three-pointer to give the Knights a 5-4 lead.
About midway through the first half, Breanna Verkaik fed Anna Timmer for a fastbreak layup. After a missed 3-point attempt by Hope's Brittany Berry, Timmer grabbed the rebound and the Knights pushed the ball down the floor, resulting in a made three by Breanna Verkaik.
Llorens responded, drawing a foul and making her free throws, but in the following five minutes Calvin held Hope scoreless. The Knights went on a ten point run, and held a 24-13 lead before Llorens snapped the streak with a bucket in the paint.
Hope showed resilience, cutting Calvin's lead to four with 2:16 left to play in the first half, points courtesy of Llorens and Autumn Anderson. Neither team would score for the remainder of the half, and Calvin headed into the locker room with a 28-24 lead.
In the second half of the contest, the points came much quicker than in the first. With just under three minutes played in the half, Calvin was up 34-30 over Hope who struggled to prevent the Knights from further extending their lead. The Knights held the Dutch at 30 points for the next five minutes, scoring seven themselves.
Calvin led 41-30 after Timmer put in a layup to give her team a double digit lead, and forcing Hope to call timeout to halt the Knights' momentum.
Following the timeout, the Knights and Dutch went back-and-forth in scoring as the second half reached its midpoint. With 9:25 remaining, Kally Verkaik stole the ball from Hope's Rebekah Llorens in the backcourt and scored, earning back the double digit lead for Calvin (47-37). Kally's layup kicked off a seven-point Calvin run, which resulted in a 52-37 Knight lead with just under five minutes to play.
With 4:30 left to play, Hope called a full timeout. Out of the break, Dutch center Maura McAfee was fouled and converted on two free throws; shortly after, Llorens followed suit.
Sophomore Anna Timmer and junior Abby Springer scored for the Knights, earning back their 14-point lead. However, Llorens knocked down two more free throws with just over two-and-a-half minutes of play remaining causing Calvin to call timeout, the scoreboard now reading 55-43.
Springer scored quickly out of the break, and Hope Coach Brian Morehouse called his final timeout.
In the final two minutes of the game, Llorens scored the only point for the Dutch. Timmer and Acre scored two points apiece, giving the Knights a 17-point lead that they would hold until time expired.
Breanna Verkaik led the Knights with 14 points, also grabbing eight rebounds. Hannah Acre finished with a double-double, chipping in 11 points and 10 rebounds. Anna Timmer also scored 11 for the Knights and snagged seven boards. Kayla Engelhard contributed 10 points and six rebounds, while Abby Springer led Calvin with six assists and four steals.
26 of Hope's 44 points were scored by Rebekah Llorens, who also finished with 11 rebounds. Although the Knights held Maura McAfee to four points, she contributed to the effort with her 12 boards.
"It was a tough rivalry game. Obviously we didn't play as well as we would've liked to, especially on the offensive end," said Hope head coach Brian Morehouse. "They played well defensively, and as a result we just didn't put enough points on the board to win. We had a couple dry runs that really hurt us in the end," Morehouse said. "You have to shoot better than twenty-five percent to beat an undefeated team."
Hope was 9-29 from the field in the first half and only 5-28 in the second. The Dutch capitalized on only two of their nineteen attempted three-point baskets.
"Rivalry games are games of ebbs and flows," said high-scorer Llorens. "Calvin is undefeated for a reason and they showed that tonight."
Calvin women's head coach John Ross was proud of yet another feat accomplished by his close-knit team. "This is a really good Hope team and we held them to 44 points. We played with a lot of heart."
Calvin's defense played a big role in the victory, as the Knights held two of Hope's three leading scorers, Brittany Berry and Maura McAfee, to three and four points.
"I think ultimately it came down to communication," Breanna Verkaik said. "We talked really well out there tonight. We knew we had to bring the intensity, so we were ready for it."
Kayla Engelhard added, "All season we've talked about how our offense needs to come from our defense, and when we weren't shooting well early we really locked down."
The Knights were thankful for all of the fan support they received. "We have such a great support system here and I'm just so blessed to be part of it," Coach Ross reflects. Acre added, "To play in front of that many people on your home court was so encouraging."
Calvin now sits atop the MIAA possessing 15 regular season titles. This is Calvin's first MIAA regular season sweep over Hope since the 2007. Through 49 years and 112 games, Calvin now leads the rivalry series 68-44, 47-43 since women's basketball became an official MIAA sport in 1978-79.
The Knights remain undefeated on the season. Tonight's win marks Calvin's 24th consecutive victory, the longest streak and best start in school history.
"All of this was a pretty big dream," said Breanna Verkaik, "Now it's come true and it's exciting. We are looking forward to the rest of the season and tournament play."
This coming Saturday, February 21st, the Knights will host Kalamazoo in their final regular season game. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.
MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-18-15 GAMES
Calvin 15-0
Hope 13-2
Kalamazoo 10-5
Trine 9-6
Olivet 8-7
Albion 6-9
Adrian 3-12
Alma 2-13
Saint Mary's 1-13
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 87, Olivet 74
By Mark DeHaan
OLIVET - The Calvin men's basketball team traveled to Olivet on Wednesday evening with an opportunity to claim the regular season MIAA title outright.
The Knights were also looking to complete a season sweep of the Comets. Calvin defeated Olivet earlier this season at Van Noord Arena, 75-49.
With an 87-74 win, the Knights did both. Calvin saw a 25-point second-half lead cut down to as little as four. But, a 9-2 run and three empty Olivet possessions allowed the Knights to reestablish a double-digit and hold on to claim the 87-74 victory.
The Comets came out playing strong defensively, although they could not stop senior Jordan Brink. Brink scored six of Calvin's opening 11 points as the ball game was tied at 11-11 five minutes in.
A pair of quick baskets then gave Olivet its largest lead of the first half at 16-11.
On a three-pointer by Brink, the Knights took the lead at 20-18.
After a Comets layup tied the game at 20-20 with 8:07 remaining, Calvin found its shooting touch.
Brink made back-to-back threes to give the Knights a 31-22 advantage.
Sophomore Cam Denney and senior TJ Huizenga then teamed-up to score the final 16 points of the first half, with Denney scoring 12. The Knights outscored Olivet 16-8 in that span as Calvin took a 47-30 lead into halftime.
The Knights shot 55.6% in the first half while Olivet shot 50%. Brink scored 17 points and Denney had 12. For the Comets, Kevin Woodson scored 11.
Out of the break, the Knights scored the first eight points to see their largest lead of the ball game at 55-30.
With Calvin holding a 57-32 edge with 15:37 to go, Olivet began to fight its way back into the ball game.
In a four-minute window, the Comets hit five three-pointers in a row to chisel the Knights lead down to 63-51.
With 8:48 remaining, Calvin's lead was cut down to single-digits as guard Jake Zielinski sunk a pair of free-throws to bring Olivet's deficit to 64-56.
Another triple by the Comets with 5:12 to go brought Olivet within four at 69-65.
Forced to respond, the Knights went on a 9-2 run, capped by a three-pointer from junior Austin Parks, to retake a double-digit lead at 78-67 with less than three minutes to go.
The Comets got the game back to single-digits one more time before the Knights pulled away, hitting 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to claim an 87-74 win.
Calvin finished the game at 54.1% shooting, including 8-of-14 for 57.1% from three-point range. Olivet finished at an even 50%. The Knights out-rebounded the Comets 35-24.
Individually, Calvin was paced by Brink who had 23 points and six rebounds. Denney finished with 14 points while Parks, junior Jordan Daley, and senior Tyler Dykstra each contributed 11. Daley also added six boards.
For Olivet, Woodson finished with 16 points. Guard Aaron Washington finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 three-point shooting while Zielinski chipped in 13 points.
"Those are the kind of games that make you sweat for a couple days before. We wrapped up the top seed for the MIAA Tournament last Saturday night, and you wonder if your team will come out flat the next game," said head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "Our first half run was more of Cam Denney and Jordan Brink making shots than us stepping up on defense."
Calvin improves to 18-6 overall and 11-2 in the MIAA, claiming the MIAA regular season title outright with the win as Trine and Hope both sit two games back with one game to go. Olivet falls to 4-20 and 2-11 in league play.
The Knights now look forward to Saturday when they will close out the regular season at Albion. The Knights and Britons are scheduled to tip-off at 3:00 p.m.
MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-19-15 GAMES
Calvin 11-2
Trine 9-4
Hope 9-4
Alma 8-5
Adrian 6-7
Albion 5-8
Kalamazoo 2-11
Olivet 2-11
Received on Thu Feb 19 01:35:00 2015
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