CKSR (Women's Basketball Cruises Past Carleton/Men's Basketball Clipped by Cornerstone)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR NOV. 25, 2017

Women's Basketball Cruises Past Carleton;
Men's Basketball Clipped by Cornerstone

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 73, Carleton 61

NORTHFIELD, Minn. - The Calvin women's basketball team won its second-straight game on Saturday. Calvin won the Carleton College Town Classic with a 73-61 victory over the host Knights of Carleton. With the victory, Calvin improves to 2-3 on the year; Carleton falls to 2-2.
Calvin started the game with a 9-2 deficit in the first four minutes. A three-point basket from junior Sarah Cassel (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) started the Calvin comeback. The Maroon and Gold tied the game at nine with 3:20 left in the first quarter, with a pair of free throws from senior Ali Spayde (Lewis Center, Ohio/Worthington Christian). Carleton regained the lead and pushed the score to 13-9. The Calvin offense erupted in the final two minutes of the quarter with an 11-3 run to close the quarter. Freshman Caitlyn Demaree (St. Louis, Mo./Principia) drained two three-point baskets in the final two minutes.
The Knights started the second quarter with a three-point basket from junior Rachel Warners (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) to push the lead to 24-16. An 8-0 run over the next three minutes tied the game at 24 for the Yellow and Blue. The two teams played close until halftime. With 15 seconds remaining in the half, Ali Spayde sunk a three-point basket to give Calvin a 33-28 at halftime.
The Maroon and Gold got off to a quick start in the third quarter with senior Bre Luurtsema (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) score three points the old-fashioned way, nine seconds into the half. Calvin broke the game open with a 14-4 run in the first five minute of the half to take a 47-32 lead. Ali Spayde had 11 of the 14 points in the run. A late Carleton basket trimmed the Calvin lead to 57-45 going into the final 10 minutes. The Knights scored 24 points in the third quarter; the most Calvin has scored in any quarter, this season.
Calvin opened the fourth quarter on a 6-2 run, with Bre Luurtsema recording four points. A three-point basket for Carleton made it a 67-58 game, but that is as close as Carleton could get as Calvin closed the game on a 6-3 run, to win 73-61.
Ali Spayde led all players with 28 points.
Bre Luurtsema stuffed the stat sheet on Saturday with 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals. Rachel Warners had eight rebounds and eight points.
Sarah Cassel and Caitlyn Demaree both finished with a season-high six points.
Calvin edged Carleton on the boards on Saturday, winning the rebounding battle, 39-35.
The Maroon and Gold scored 18 points off Carleton turnovers.
Calvin returns to action on Friday for the home opener against Martin Luther.

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Cornerstone 88, Calvin 59

By Gina de Haan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin men's basketball team fell 88-59 to NAIA No. 1 Cornerstone University in its second game of the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame Classic.

With the loss, the Knights fall to 1-4 early in the season.

The Knights hung with the Golden Eagles until late in the first half when Cornerstone's Kyle Steigenga found his rhythm and earned his team a sizeable lead.

The Golden Eagles took an early 8-2 lead to force a Calvin timeout less than five minutes into the game. Cornerstone built its lead to ten behind back-to-back buckets by Sam Vander Sluis. A jumper by junior Carlos Amoros-Gutierrez (Wyoming, Mich./Wyoming) broke the Knights three-minute scoreless spell, but the Golden Eagles answered in the next possession to regain their double-digit advantage.

Cornerstone held a 18-6 advantage as the midpoint of the half neared, but the Knights' offense began to find its groove. Freshman Luke Morrison (Bristol, Ind./Northridge) fed sophomore Derrick DeVries (Grand Rapids, Mich./Covenant Christian) for a triple, and a bucket by senior Tony Canonie (South Haven, Mich./South Haven) cut the deficit to seven.

After a pair of unanswered buckets put the Golden Eagles up 22-11 with just under nine minutes remaining in the half. The Knights responded as freshman Jason Walter (Coloma, Mich./Coloma) sunk a three-pointer and Canonie fed junior Austin Bykerk (Jenison, Mich./Unity Christian) for a dunk. Cornerstone regained its ten-point advantage, but Calvin trimmed it to six with points by Luke Morrison and another dunk by Bykerk.

Cornerstone's Kyle Steigenga took over late in the first half, scoring the next eight points of the contest to put his team up by 14. The Golden Knights rolled into halftime with a 38-25 lead, 15 of those points coming from Steigenga.

Cornerstone's solid second-half shooting stifled a Calvin comeback. The Golden Eagles sunk nine of their 12 three-pointers in the second half.

The Golden Eagles started the second half strong as Michael Bradshaw drained two quick three-pointers to put Cornerstone up by 19.

After a timeout, Bradshaw hit another triple to make the score 49-27. Calvin sophomore Alex Bos (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) answered with a three of his own, but Cornerstone's offense continued to control the contest. The Golden Eagles went on a 13-point run to lead by 32 and force a Calvin timeout.

The deficit was too large for the Knights to overcome and the Golden Eagles claimed an 88-59 victory.

Calvin shot 34.3% from the field, including 23.1% from behind the three-point arc, while Cornerstone posted a 57.4% shooting percentage, 50% from three-point range.

Bykerk and Walter led the Knights with 10 points apiece. Luke Morrison finished with a team-high six rebounds, also chipping in six points and two steals. The Calvin bench contributed 33 points in the loss.

At the conclusion of the tournament, Luke Morrison was named to the all-tournament team.

The Knights are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Anderson (Ind.). Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

2017 GRAND RAPIDS SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASSIC SCORES

NOV. 24
Cornerstone 88, Hope 61
Aquinas 78, Calvin 73

NOV. 25
Cornerstone 88, Calvin 69
Hope 89, Aquinas 83

GRAND RAPIDS SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Aquinas - Arsenio Arrington
Calvin - Luke Morrison
Cornerstone - Michael Bradshaw
Cornerstone - Kyle Steigenga
Cornerstone - Sam Vander Sluis
Tournament MVP - Jason Beckman - Hope College
Received on Sat Nov 25 22:55:27 2017