CKSR (Men's and Women's Basketball Teams Pull Off Doubleheader Sweep of Trine)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR JANUARY 6, 2016

Men's and Women's Basketball Teams Pull Off Doubleheader Sweep Of Trine

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 74, Trine 70

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin men's basketball team rallied from down six in the final two minutes to stun the No. 23 Thunder of Trine University on Wednesday night. The Knights improve to 6-6 on the year and 1-0 in the MIAA with the 74-70 victory. Calvin also hands Trine its second loss of the season, as Trine falls to 10-2 and 0-1 in the MIAA. The Knights are now 19-1 in MIAA openers under head coach Kevin Vande Streek and is 9-0 all-time against Trine at Van Noord Arena.
"We said all week that we needed to play a full 40 minutes," said head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "I was so proud of the guys tonight. They really showed a lot of toughness tonight to rally to win."
Calvin started out strong in the first half, taking a seven-point lead at 22-15. The Thunder would counter with a 15-2 run to take a 30-24 lead. The Knights would finish the half with an 11-2 run, capped by sophomore Tony Canonie (South Haven, Mich./South Haven) with a three-point basket before time expired, giving Calvin a 35-32 lead at halftime.
The two teams exchanged the lead until the game was tied at 62 with 4:01 remaining. Trine would go on a 5-0 run. Senior Jordan Daley (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) cut the lead to three with 2:40 left. Travis Malone drained a three-point basketball for Trine to give the Thunder a six point lead with 2:18 remaining. Junior Nate Drews (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Hills Lutheran) drained one of his three three-point baskets to cut the lead to 70-67 with 2:02 remaining. Daley cut the lead to one with a layup. After a Tony Canonie steal, senior Austin Parks (Niles, Mich./Niles) gave Calvin the lead from where it would not look back.
Junior Cameron Denney (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell) gave the Knights a three-point lead with a layup and Jordan Daley sealed the deal with a free throw with nine seconds remaining.
Daley led the Knights in the victory with 23 points. Cameron Denney was the leading rebounder with 10. Sophomore Michael Wilks (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian) and Austin Parks had a team-high six assists.
The Knights took advantage of their rebounds on Wednesday, coming away with 13 second-chance points. Calvin showed some toughness on the night with 28 points in the paint, compared to 16 for Trine.
Calvin outrebounded Trine on Wednesday, 31-25.
The Knights return to action on Saturday as Calvin travels to Albion. The action is slated to begin at 3 p.m. against the Britons.

MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-6-16 GAMES

Adrian 1-0
Alma 1-0
Calvin 1-0
Hope 1-0
Albion 0-1
Kalamazoo 0-1
Olivet 0-1
Trine 0-1

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 81, Trine 52

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The No. 19 Calvin women's basketball team remained perfect in the MIAA with an 81-52 victory over Trine on Wednesday evening. The Knights improved to 9-3 overall and 4-0 in the MIAA. Trine falls 9-4 and 2-3 in the MIAA.
"I was extremely pleased with our effort tonight," said head coach John Ross. "That is the best we have played all year, we played a full solid 40 minutes. Trine is one of the better programs in the country, they have things going in the right direction. I thought we did a good job on the boards and pushing tempo."
The Calvin defense started the game forcing four-straight turnovers and jumped out to an early 7-0 lead. The Knights kept the pressure on the Thunder the entire first quarter and led 21-7 after the first 10 minutes.
Trine started the second quarter on a 5-0 to cut into the Calvin lead. The Knights would respond with an 8-2 run. Calvin would go into halftime leading, 35-22. The Knights shot 50% in the first half.
Calvin extended the lead in the third quarter, outscoring the Thunder, 27- 16. The Knights would go on to give some separation from Trine, outscoring Trine in the fourth quarter, 19-14.
Senior Abby Springer (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) finished the night with the 13 assists, the second most in a single game in Calvin history.
"Abby works hard every day," said Ross. "She is a great player for the program."
The Knights were led by sophomore Bre Luurtsema (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) with a career-high 24 points.
"Bre Luurtsema is one of the hardest workers I have ever met," said Ross. "She played a great game and didn't back down from playing their 6-2 post."
Senior Kally Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) finished the night with a double-double. Verkaik had a team-high 11 rebounds and 10 points.
Junior Anna Timmer (Caledonia, Mich./South Christian) had 18 points in the victory and sophomore Ali Spayde (Lewis Center, Ohio/Worthington Christian) scored 11 points.
The Knights dominated the paint on Wednesday with 50 points in the paint, compared to Trine with 20. Calvin also scored 33 points off of Trine turnovers.
Calvin returns to action on Saturday as the Knights travel to Olivet at 3 p.m. to take on the Comets.

MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-6-16 GAMES

Hope 5-0
Calvin 4-0
Adrian 3-1
Olivet 3-1
Trine 2-3
Albion 1-3
Kalamazoo 1-4
Saint Mary's 1-4
Alma 0-4
Received on Wed Jan 6 23:38:54 2016