CKSR (Men's Basketball Downs Olivet / Women's Basketball Falls at Trine / Hockey Team Edged by Aquinas)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB. 7, 2016

Men's Basketball Downs Olivet;
Women's Basketball Falls at Trine;
Hockey Team Edged by Aquinas

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 80, Olivet 55

By Gina de Haan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin men's basketball team entered Saturday afternoon's contest against Olivet College looking to bounce back from a buzzer-beater loss to Olivet and snap a four game losing streak.

The Knights came into the MIAA matchup with an 8-12 overall record, with a 3-6 conference mark while the Comets were 3-17 overall and 2-7 in the league.

At the first meeting between the teams in mid-January, it was Calvin who rolled to a 91-44 victory.

This time around, the competition was closer, with Calvin claiming victory after pulling away in the second half, fueled by a strong rebounding effort. The final score was 80-55.

The Comets got on the board right away off a made jump shot by Chris Chrzan, but sophomore Tony Canonie quickly responded with two points for the Knights. Olivet's Chrzan then knocked down a three-pointer to make the score 5-2 less than a minute into the contest.

However, the Knights began to warm up and, after some made free throws and jump shots by Cam Denney and senior Jordan Daley, the Knights had earned a 9-6 lead.

Olivet's Jordan Ellis tied the game by knocking down a triple, but Olivet's momentum was quickly halted after Daley cut to the hoop and scored his 1,001st career point. Daley becomes the 25th player in Calvin men's basketball history to join the 1000-point club.

The scoreboard now read 11-9 in favor of the Knights and Olivet called its first timeout with 16:20 remaining in the first half.

Following the timeout, the teams exchanged points for the next few minutes, with the Comets cutting Calvin's lead to one (18-17) at the 11:31 mark after a made free throw by Lee Gardner.

The Knights weren't ready to give up their lead and a minute freshman Preston Huckaby drained a three-pointer and after a made Olivet jumper, Daley drained a triple of his own.

Mike Siegel followed, putting in a layup and junior Nate Drews extended Calvin's lead to double digits (29-19) by sinking a shot from behind the arc.

The Comets would score the next five points and then neither team would score until the 3:29 mark when sophomore Michael Wilks put in a layup to make the score 31-24.

Huckaby then hit another three to give Calvin a 34-24 advantage with just under three minutes to play in the first half.

Olivet cut the Knights' lead to six (34-28) with 1:50 to play, the last bucket of the half.

At the half, the Knights were outrebounding the Comets 22-9.

Following the break, Calvin slowly pulled away and secured their victory alte in the second half.

The Comets' Gardner was fouled in the first ten seconds of the second half and made both of his following free throws. Daley also was fouled and went 1-for-2 from the line, but Olivet continued to chip away at Calvin's lead as RJ Haas added two more Comet points, making the score to 35-32.

But Calvin pushed back, extending its lead to seven after three points from Daley. When Olivet answered with a three, junior Cameron Denney drained another triple in response, bringing the score to 44-37 with just under 15 minutes left to play.

After two made Olivet free throws, the Knights would go on an eight-point scoring streak that was halted at the 12-minute mark when Olivet's Eric Ewing knocked down a jumper. Juniors Mike Siegel, Michael Wilks and Nate Drews all contributed to this scoring effort that gave the Knights a 52-39 lead.

Near the midpoint of the half, Drews sunk another triple to give Calvin a 16-point lead. The Comets would score the next 7 points, cutting the Knights' lead to 9 (59-50) with 8:15 remaining.

Freshman Carlos Amoros made a jump shot to bring the Knights' lead back to double digits. After a made Olivet free throw, the Knights then went on a run to secure their victory, scoring 12 consecutive points and holding their visitors scoreless for nearly five minutes. Calvin now possessed a comfortable 73-53 advantage with 2:25 left in the contest.

The Knights had a well-balanced scoring effort, with 10 players contributing points.

Daley led the Knights with 16 points and seven rebounds. Wilks finished with 12 points Denney and Huckaby added 10 points each. Denney and junior Michael Welch snagged seven boards apiece.

Drews finished with eight points, Amoros and Siegel with seven each, Welch with six and Tony Canonie and sophomore Nate Meppelink with two apiece.

The Knights shot 43.5% (27-62) from the floor and 34.4% (11-32) from three-point range.

Calvin outrebounded Olivet 51-24. The Knights' bench contributed 40 points while the Comets' scored only nine.

"The guys knew that our backs were against the wall here," said head coach Kevin Vande Streek. Olivet has a lot of talent and I thought we just stayed with them, grinded it out and got some really quality play from some guys who don't have the biggest names yet, which is really great to see."

The Knights hit the road on Wednesday as they travel to Alma College (16-4, 9-0 MIAA) for another conference competition. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m.

MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-7-16 GAMES

Alma 9-1
Hope 9-1
Albion 6-4
Adrian 5-5
Trine 5-5
Calvin 4-6
Olivet 2-8
Kalamazoo 0-10

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Trine 69, Calvin 57

ANGOLA, Ind. - The No. 19 Knights were unable to overcome the turnovers on Saturday afternoon at Trine. The Thunder upset Calvin, 69-57. The loss moves Calvin to 16-5 on the year and 10-2 in the MIAA. Trine improves to 14-7 and 7-6 in the MIAA. Trine scored 24 points off of 22 Calvin turnovers.

"Trine played very well today," said head coach John Ross. "Give their coaching staff a ton of credit. We are looking forward to having three of our last four regular season games at home."

The first quarter was all Thunder on Saturday afternoon, with Trine forcing nine-first quarter turnovers. The Thunder scored 13 points off of Calvin turnovers in the first 10 minutes. After being tied at 10 with 4:33 left in the quarter, the Thunder would close the quarter on a 10-2 run to lead 20-12.

The Knights found themselves in a low-scoring affair in the second quarter, junior Anna Timmer (Caledonia, Mich./South Christian) scored the Knights only basket in the quarter at the 3:06 mark to cut the lead to nine. Senior Kally Verkaik (Holland, Mich./Holland) would make a free throw before halftime. Calvin went into halftime trailing, 27-15.

Calvin started connecting on shots in the third quarter, with sophomore Ali Spayde (Lewis Center, Ohio/Worthington Christian) starting the quarter with a three-point basket and sophomore Bre Luurtsema (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) making a layup. The Knights would cut the lead to nine points on three occasions in the third quarter and trailed Trine, 44-33, after 30 minutes.

In the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, Calvin went on an 11-6 run to cut the lead to six. That would be the closest that Calvin would get the rest of the afternoon. Leading 53-46 with 4:04 remaining, Trine would go on a 16-5 run to seal the victory.

The Knights outrebounded the Thunder on Saturday, 36-28.

Two Knights finished the day with a double-doubles, Bre Luurtsema finished with a team-high 13 points and 11 rebounds, Anna Timmer recorded 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Ali Spayde tallied 11 points and a team-high four assists.

Calvin returns to action on Wednesday as the Knights host Alma for another key MIAA game.

MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-7-16 GAMES

Hope 13-0
Calvin 10-2
Olivet 8-4
Trine 7-6
Adrian 6-6
Albion 5-7
Kalamazoo 4-9
Alma 2-10
Saint Mary's 1-12

HOCKEY
Aquinas 4, Calvin 2
By Gina de Haan

Following a 4-1 Friday night victory over Aquinas in which the Calvin men's hockey team clinched the MCHC title, the Knights travelled to Southside Arena in Byron Center Saturday night for another game against the Saints, their last regular season game of the year.

Once again, it was the home team who got the victory as Aquinas defeated the visiting Knights by a score of 4-2.

The Saints got on the board first with an early shorthanded first period just over five minutes into the game. Neither team would score for the remainder of the period.

In the second period, the Knights stepped up the intensity right away, leading to an early scoring chance for freshman Thomas Rietema five minutes in. At the 11:20 mark, Ryan Betts found the back of the net with an equalizing goal.

The score remained tied until Aquinas' Nathan Aloisio was awarded and capitalized on a penalty shot with 2:25 remaining in the second period. Junior Ryan Racanelli put a shot on goal with under a minute left to play, but wasn't able to tie the game. Despite being outshot 16-11 by their visitors, the Saints headed into intermission with a 2-1 advantage over the Knights.

The Knights controlled the rougher third period of play, outshooting the Saints 13-3, but were outscored by their hosts 2-1. After coincidental penalties leading to 4 on 4 play, Aquinas increased its lead to two goals when Aloisio blasted a slapshot over the glove of Calvin goalkeeper Alex Gross 5:30 into the final period.

Calvin took advantage of a 4 on 3 power play when Rietema buried one in front of the net, assisted by junior Cameron Bell. The scoreboard read 3-2 in favor of the Saints with 7:22 left to play.

Despite numerous scoring chances in the final minutes of play, the Knights were unable to capitalize and an Aquinas empty netter with 11.9 seconds remaining sealed the Saints victory.

"We didn't start well in the first period," said Calvin head coach Mike Petrusma. "I don't know if it was the exuberance of winning the league title last night which led to us showing up a little flat today, although we talked about it and tried to guard against it. But sometimes the human mind takes over."

"I thought the last two periods we were the better hockey team, but a hockey game is three periods long," said Petrusma. "The momentum that Aquinas was able to gather in the first period negated the momentum we had last night."

With the conclusion of the regular season, Petrusma and the Knights look forward to the postseason and the MCHC League Tournament next weekend, hosted by Calvin at Eagles Ice Center.
"The regular season is now finished and now the new season starts. Everybody is 0-0 now."

Petrusma says the Knights' regional ranking following this weekend is a "tough call", but believes his team will be ranked either second or third. A second place ranking would mean an automatic bid to nationals for the Knights while third place would mean they must qualify at regionals in order to move on.

"I think if we would've won tonight that No. 2 ranking would've been one-hundred percent guarantee and I think there's still a pretty good chance that we'll get it, but you always want to make it one-hundred percent if possible," says Petrusma.

"Unfortunately, we didn't do that tonight, but we get to regroup on Monday. We have a good team and we're looking forward to the next series of challenges."
Received on Sun Feb 7 00:28:56 2016