CKSR (Women's Basketball Defeats Kalamazoo / Men's Basketball Falls at Adrian / Swimming and Diving Teams Compete Against DePauw and U. of Chicago)

CALVIN KNIGHT SATURDAY SPORTS REPORT FOR JAN. 23, 2016

Women's Basketball Defeats Kalamazoo / Men's Basketball Falls at Adrian;
Swimming and Diving Teams Compete Against DePauw and U. of Chicago

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 76, Kalamazoo 44
By Gina de Haan

On Saturday afternoon, the Calvin women's basketball team welcomed conference opponent Kalamazoo to Van Noord Arena for the teams' second meeting of the season.

The first matchup of the season took place on December 2nd at Kalamazoo's Anderson Athletic Center, and it was the visiting Knights who claimed an 81-65 victory over the Hornets.

No. 15 ranked Calvin entered Saturday's contest 12-4, with a 7-1 MIAA record. The Knights were looking to recover from their first conference loss as they fell to rival Hope College this past Wednesday by a score of 75-47. Also looking to bounce back from a Wednesday defeat were the Hornets, who fell 75-49 to non-conference opponent Rochester College. The Hornets are 6-11 overall, with a 3-5 conference mark.

The Knights got back on the winning train and earned their sixteenth consecutive victory over the Hornets, claiming a 76-44 win at home.

Kalamazoo's leading scorer Grace Smith recorded the first points of the game, but Calvin responded with seven points of its own. Senior Abby Springer (Vernon Hills, IL/Vernon Hills HS) answered with a quick bucket in the paint and sophomore Ali Spayde (Lewis Center, OH/Worthington Christian HS) added five straight points off a steal that led to two made free throws and a deep three-pointer that came half-way through the quarter.

In the following two minutes, the Knights scored nine points while holding the Hornets to four. After an offensive rebound and put back from Bre Luurtsema (Holland/Holland Christian HS), Calvin had a 16-6 lead and Kalamazoo called its first timeout with 2:58 left in the first quarter.

Out of the break, Kalamazoo's Amanda Moss put in a layup, but junior Anna Timmer (Caledonia/South Christian HS) quickly halted the Hornets' momentum. Timmer scored six consecutive points, forcing another Kalamazoo timeout.

Although the Hornets would score three points more before the end of the first quarter, a late four points by freshman Emily VanVliet (Grandville/Calvin Christian HS) would extend Calvin's lead to 15 heading into the second quarter, the score 26-11.

A slow second quarter start by the Knights proved to be unimportant as the home team outscored its opponents 18-9. After being held scoreless for nearly the first four minutes of the quarter, VanVliet broke Calvin's dry spell with a made jump shot, the scoreboard reading 28-13 with 6:12 to play before the halftime break.

A Hornets bucket by Claire Slaughter was soon answered by a three-point play by Luurtsema and a three-pointer by junior Lauren Goldthorpe (St. Ignace/St. Ignace HS) to make the score 34-15 in favor of the Knights.

Backed by seven points from Timmer late in the quarter, the home team rolled into halftime with a 44-20 lead.

By the break, Timmer had racked up 16 points and snagged five rebounds, three of those offensive boards. Spayde had seven points, Kally Verkaik (Holland/Holland Christian HS) earned four steals and three blocks and Luurtsema had five points and five boards.

The Hornets showed some resilience in the third quarter, but ultimately were outscored 19-13 by their hosts. After Kalamazoo cut Calvin's lead to 18 (51-33) just over halfway through the quarter, head coach John Ross called timeout. The Hornets wouldn't score the remainder of the quarter.

Another three-point play by Luurtsema followed by a Spayde triple made brought the score to 57-33 in Calvin's favor. Timmer added four more points and a layup by Tiffany Karger gave the Knights a 30-point lead (63-33) heading into the fourth quarter.

The Knights' bench held on to the team's lead in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Hornets 13-11.

"It was a good bounce-back win for our team today," said Ross. "We played with confidence and we played with energy. We played Calvin basketball today and I am very pleased with my team's performance."

Timmer led all scorers with 22 points (9-13 FG, 1-2 3pt, 3-4 FT), also finishing with seven rebounds and four steals. Spayde followed adding 13 points, while Luurtsema and VanVliet had 8 apiece. Luurtsema led the Knights in rebounding with 8 boards, while VanVliet recorded her career-high in scoring.

Kally Verkaik had a solid all-around game, scoring only three points but recorded seven rebounds, six assists, six steals and three blocks.

The Knights' bench contributed 26 points in the winning effort.

Calvin forced 29 Kalamazoo turnovers and outrebounded its visitors 51-40.

On Wednesday, the Knights are on the road, facing off against Saint Mary's in another MIAA matchup. In its first contest against the Belles, Calvin was victorious, earning a 91-45 win. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-23-16 GAMES

Hope 9-0
Calvin 8-1
Olivet 6-3
Adrian 5-4
Trine 4-5
Albion 3-5
Kalamazoo 3-6
Alma 1-8
Saint Mary's 1-8

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Adrian 85, Calvin 61

ADRIAN, Mich. - The Calvin men's basketball team dropped an 85-61 decision at Adrian Saturday afternoon.

The host Bulldogs led 43-33 at halftime and pulled away in the second half, connecting on 62 percent of there field goal attempts over the final 20 minutes of play.

The loss snapped a six-game Calvin win streak against Adrian and dropped the Knights to 8-9 overall and 3-3 in the MIAA.

Adrian (9-8 overall, 2-4 MIAA) used a 23-15 first half rebounding edge to build a 10-point halftime lead and then connected on 7 of its first 13 field goal attempts in the second half against the Knights.

Calvin was led in defeat by senior Jordan Daley (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) who tallied 16 points while junior Cam Denney (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell HS) had 11 points and seven reounds. Sophomore Mike Siegel (Fremont/Fremont HS) added nine points off the bench.

Calvin shot just 34.5 percent from the floor in the second half and just 39.7 percent overall. Adrian was led by Anthony Cannon with 17 points off the bench while Travon Johnson had 14. Rickey Jackson Jr. had 13 points and Christian Covile 12. Of its 85 points, 31 of Adrian's points came from its reserves. The Bulldogs were 10 of 24 (.417) from three-point range.

"Adrian shot the ball extremely well and we had a difficult time stopping them," said Calvin men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek. "Adrian deserves credit for this win. They played really well."

Calvin returns to action next Wednesday when it travels to rival Hope for an 8 p.m. game at DeVos Fieldhouse.

MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 1-23-16 GAMES

Alma 6-0
Hope 5-1
Albion 3-3
Calvin 3-3
Trine 3-3
Adrian 2-4
Olivet 2-4
Kalamazoo 1-5

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

GREENCASTLE, Ind. - The No. 13 Calvin men's swimming & diving team split at a tri-meet at DePauw with Chicago. The Knights fell to the No. 10 Maroons of Chicago, 125-112 and defeated the No. 21 host Tigers of DePauw, 147-90. Calvin is now 8-3 on the season.

"Very good competition this afternoon," said head coach Dan Gelderloos. "We saw some people using good habits and fighting for the little victories. Enthusiasm and teamwork were very good today."

Sophomore Michael Moentmann (Solon, Ohio/Solon) started the day for the Knights winning on the 1-meter boards, finishing with a score of 252.50.

The Knights continued to ride the winning wave in the 200 medley relay, the team of freshman Ben Holstege (Keswick, Va./Covenant), senior Johnson Cochran (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Mount Vernon), junior Brett Stoughton (Centerville, Ind./Centerville) and freshman Jared Britton (Falls Church, Va./George Mason) won with a time of 1:35.16.

The Knights recorded two of the three fastest times in the 1000 freestyle on Saturday, sophomore Tanner Vincent (Novi, Mich./Novi) finished in second place at 10:13.31 and freshman Stephen Barrett (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming) in third place at 10:16.83.

Jared Britton touched the wall in third place in the 50 freestyle at 21.74.

Brett Stoughton recorded a second-place finish in the 100 butterfly with a time of 52.10. He also finished the 200 IM in third place at 2:00.10.

Senior Brandon Muma (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Eastern) finished the 100 freestyle in second place, touching the wall at 48.15.

In the 100 backstroke, sophomore Skyler Fish (Ionia, Mich./Ionia) tallied a second-place finish in the 100 backstroke at 53.07.

Michael Moentmann finished in second place on the 3-meter boards with a score of 290.30. Following him was Dirk Tanis in third place at 232.35.

In the 500 freestyle, Andrew Kasper touched the wall in second place at 4:48.96.

Johnson Cochran was victorious in the 100 breaststroke with a winning time of 57.84.

The Knights finished the day winning the 400 freestyle relay, the team of Brandon Muma, senior Mitch Schroder (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian), Andrew Kasper and Jared Britton won with a time of 3:10.36.

The Knights return to the pool on Saturday Jan. 23, for the final home dual meet of the season. The meet is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. against the Kalamazoo Hornets.

WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING

GREENCASTLE, Ind. - The Calvin women's swimming & diving team fell to a duo of top-15 teams on Saturday at DePauw. The women fell to No. 8 Chicago, 180-63 and to No. 13 DePauw, 141-101. The Calvin women are now 7-5 on the year.

"Very good competition this afternoon," said head coach Dan Gelderloos. "We saw some people using good habits and fighting for the little victories. Enthusiasm and teamwork were very good today."

Sophomore Sarah Bradley (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) started the day for the Knights taking second place on the 3-meter boards at 269.70.

In the 100 freestyle, sophomore Abby VanHarn (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) finished in second place at 53.76.

The Knights took two of the three highest scores on the 1-meter boards. In second place was sophomore Nicole Langerak (Jenison, Mich./Jenison) at 243.85 and in third place was junior Hillary Glover (Wyoming, Mich./Calvin Christian) at 238.25

Senior Megan Schroder (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) tallied a third-place finish in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:14.47.

The Knights finished the day taking third place in the 400 freestyle relay, the team of Megan Schroder, freshman Anna Serino (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney), sophomore Rachel Mattson (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron) and Abby VanHarn finished at 3:41.67.

The Knights return to the pool on Saturday Jan. 23, for the final home dual meet of the season. The meet is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. against the Kalamazoo Hornets.
Received on Sat Jan 23 22:30:27 2016