CKSR (Men's Basketball Claims Road Win Over Comets / Women's Basketball Tripped Up By Trine)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR FEB. 4, 2017

Men's Basketball Claims Road Win Over Comets;
Women's Basketball Tripped Up By Trine

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 83, Olivet 70

OLIVET, Mich. - The Calvin men's basketball moved into sole possession of second place in the MIAA standings with a hard-fought 83-70 victory at Olivet Saturday night.

Calvin fought off several offensive surges by the Comets to claim the win. The Knights did so by placing five players in double-digits in scoring while receiving key contributions from several other spots as well.

Calvin (12-9 overall, 7-3 MIAA) trailed 25-17 midway through the first half but ripped off a 12-0 run to take a 29-25 lead. The Knights closed out the first half with six unanswered points to take a 39-35 halftime lead.

The Knights opened the second half with a 14-2 run to build a 53-37 lead and later led 62-44 on a three-pointer by senior Cam Denney (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell HS) with 11:37 remaining.

Olivet (8-12 overall, 4-5 MIAA) then mounted a furious comeback effort, outscoring the Knights 21-3 over to trail just 67-65 with 6:27 remaining.

With starting point guard Tony Canonie (South Haven, Mich./South Haven HS) in foul trouble, sophomore Carlos Amoros (Wyoming, Mich./Wyoming HS) stepped in to deliver some key minutes and drilled a crucial three-pointer that put the Knights up 70-65.
Calvin then used an 8-1 run over the final two minutes to seal the win including a key three-point play by Canonie.

Junior Michael Wilks (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) led Calvin in scoring with 18 points to go with seven rebounds. Denney amassed his first collegiate triple-double, scoring 11 points to go with 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Junior Mike Siegel (Fremont, Mich./Fremont HS) tossed in 16 points off the bench while freshman Tony DeWitte (Grandville, Mich./Calvin Christian HS) had 15 points while Canonie had 10 points and four assists.

"Tonight's game was a grind but one of the things we've continued to tell our guys all year is to continue to keep grinding and they did that tonight," said Calvin men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek. "Due to injuries and in tonight's case, foul trouble, we needed other individuals on our team to step up and they did. Carlos Amoros in particular was huge when Tony had to go out because of foul trouble. I thought Carlos was very poised handling the ball against Olivet's pressure and he came up with a big shot when we needed it. I'm just proud of all of our guys and the way they battled tonight. This was an important win for our team. We have some big games coming up next week but we have to take them one at a time."
Calvin held a 47-35 rebounding advantage against Olivet. Olivet hit on 11 of 28 from three-point range but the Knights were able to outscore the Comets by eight points at the free throw line. Calvin also connected on eight three-pointers of its own.

The Knights return home for a pair of road games next week, hosting Alma Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and Kalamazoo on February 11 at 3 p.m.

MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-4-17

Hope 10-0
Calvin 7-3
Alma 6-4
Trine 6-4
Albion 4-6
Olivet 4-6
Kalamazoo 2-8
Adrian 1-9

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Trine 54, Calvin 46

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin women's basketball team welcomed the Thunder of Trine University to Van Noord Arena on Saturday afternoon, marking the second meeting this season between the two teams.
Trine took the first contest of the year, defeating Calvin 59-51 in overtime.
Calvin was looking to bounce back from a hard-fought 63-55 overtime defeat to Hope Wednesday night. Trine was back in action for the first time since last Saturday when it defeated Albion 69-45.
The Knights entered the contest with at 18-3 overall with a 9-3 conference record, seated at third place in the league standings. Trine held a 17-2 overall record and was 10-1 in MIAA play at second place in the conference, a half game behind Hope.
In this matchup, it was Trine that was victorious as it outscored Calvin 23-12 in the fourth quarter to earn the win.
The Knights jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind early buckets from junior Ali Spayde (Lewis Center, Ohio/Worthington Christian HS) and senior Lauren Goldthorpe (St. Ignace, Mich./Lasalle HS). However, by the end of the first quarter, the Thunder had tied the score at eight, holding the Knights scoreless for over four minutes while scoring four points.
Neither team would score for the first 1:23 of the second quarter. Trine's Katy Steers knocked down a three-pointer to break the dry spell and give the Thunder the leave. In the next possession, Spayde responded for the Knights, putting in a layup to cut the deficit to one point.
At the midpoint of the quarter, the Knights began to heat up offensively. Rachel Warners (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) scored in the paint to make the score 13-12, still in favor of the Thunder. Trine would respond with a bucket, but a triple by Goldthorpe knotted the score at 15 with 4:26 remaining before halftime. Bre Luurtsema (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) followed, contributing four straight points in the Knights' 7-0 run.
The teams exchanged points in the final minutes of the quarter. At halftime, the Knights held a 23-19 advantage.
The Thunder came out of the break strong, quickly cutting Calvin's lead to one point. Trine remained within one point of the Knights until the six-minute mark when the home team commenced a four-point run. A bucket by Trine's Brandi Dawson would break up the Knights' momentum, but Spayde completed a three-point play in the next possession to put her team up by six with 4:27 left in the quarter.
Trine continued to battle, chipping away at the Knights' lead to make it a one-point game once again. After a late bucket by Spayde, Calvin held a 34-31 advantage that it would carry into the final quarter.
The Thunder reclaimed the lead in the fourth quarter, going on a 9-0 run to go ahead 40-34. Calvin scored for the first time in the quarter when senior Anna Timmer (Caledonia, Mich./South Christian HS) knocked down a pair of free throws with 6:07 remaining in the contest.
Five straight points by the Thunder gave the visitors a 45-36 lead. Timmer gave the Knights' offense a spark when she drained a deep three-pointer with 4:40 left to play. However, Calvin was unable to build momentum, as the Thunder used free throws to build an 11-point lead. Trine scored nine of its 10 points from free throws in the fourth quarter.
Although the Knights narrowed the gap to single digits, they were unable to make up for the large deficit as the Thunder cruised to a 54-46 victory. Calvin shot just 20% (2-10) from the floor in the final quarter.
Calvin's offense was led by Spayde who recorded 15 points and three assists. Timmer notched her 16th double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Trine's Brandi Dawson led all scorers with 18 points.
The Knights are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Olivet to take on the Comets. In the first meeting of the year between the two teams, the Knights claimed a 70-55 win at Van Noord Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

MIAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS THROUGH 2-4-17 GAMES

Hope 11-1
Trine 11-1
Albion 9-4
Calvin 9-4
Adrian 7-6
Alma 5-7
Kalamazoo 2-10
Olivet 1-11
Saint Mary's 1-12
Received on Sat Feb 4 23:02:17 2017