CKSR (Men's Basketball Defeats Puget Sound at Whitworth Classic / Women's Basketball Falls to Undefeated Marietta at Otterbein Tourney)

CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 29, 2017

Men's Basketball Defeats Puget Sound at Whitworth Classic;
Women's Basketball Falls to Undefeated Marietta at Otterbein Tourney

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 93, Puget Sound 84

SPOKANE, Wash. - Calvin opened play at the Whitworth University Men's Classic Presented by the Quality Inn of Oakwood with a 93-84 victory over the University of Puget Sound Friday night.

Calvin (4-6) fought off a relentless full-court press by Puget Sound (6-3) and came up with timely field goal conversions downs the stretch to gain the non-conference win.

The up-and-down contest featured a game of runs with Calvin leading 46-37 late in the first half only to see the Loggers roll off a 15-4 run over the final 3:48 of the half to take a 52-50 lead at the break.

Puget Sound was 9-of-24 from three-point range in the second half but Calvin's perimeter defense tightened up in the second half as the Loggers were just 2-of-22 from beyond the long line over the final 20 minutes.

Calvin turned the ball over 17 times in the first half and 12 times in the second half but were sound down the stretch, turning it over only three times over the final nine minutes of play.
Holding an 80-76 lead with 4:33 left in regulation, Calvin rolled off a 13-8 run ignited by an old-fashioned three-point play by sophomore Derrick DeVries (Grand Rapids, Mich./Covenant Christian HS). Puget Sound closed to within 85-81 on a long triple by Jimmy Wohrer with 1:44 remaining but DeVries was able to convert a layup with 58 seconds left.
Calvin proceeded to swish six free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

DeVries had a monster night for Calvin with 36 points and 10 rebounds, setting career-highs in both categories. It marked the first collegiate double-double for DeVries.

Junior Austin Bykerk (Jenison, Mich./Unity Christian HS) chalked up his first Calvin double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Jason Walter (Coloma, Mich./Coloma HS) had 10 points and four boards while senior Michael Wilks (Hudsonville, Mich./Unity Christian HS) chipped in with nine points off the bench. Sophomore Tom Morrison (Bristol, Ind./Northridge HS) and freshman Emmett Warners (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) both had productive games off the bench with seven rebounds apiece.

Wohrer led Puget Sound with 17 points.

Calvin held a commanding 59-42 rebounding edge including 34-24 in the second half.

Calvin will face No. 7 Whitworth on its home floor Saturday night at 9 p.m. (EST) to close out tournament play.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Marietta 64, Calvin 56

WESTERVILLE, Ohio - The Calvin women's basketball team fell on Friday to the unbeaten Pioneers of Marietta, 64-56. Calvin moves to 6-5 overall, after the first day of the Smokey Ballenger Classic on the campus of Otterbein University.
The two teams exchanged the lead multiple times to start the first quarter. The largest lead of the day for Calvin was at the 14-10 mark. Calvin used a 5-0 run with a layup from senior Bre Luurtsema (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) and a three-point basket from junior Sarah Cassel (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North). The Pioneers regained the lead at 16-14, but a pair of free throws from senior Ali Spayde (Lewis Center, Ohio/Worthington Christian) tied the game after 10 minutes.
The Pioneers opened the second quarter on a 9-3 run to take a 26-19 lead. Calvin would not fold and cut the Pioneer lead to 26-25. Marietta pushed the lead up to three points twice in the final minutes of the half, but a layup from Ali Spayde cut the deficit to 29-28 at halftime.
Marietta jumped on the Knights in the third quarter and opened the half on a 15-2 run to lead 44-30. Calvin outscored the Pioneers 7-2 in the final two minutes, with Ali Spayde scoring five points.

Trailing by nine to start the fourth quarter, the Knights continued to chip away at the Marietta lead. Ali Spayde started the Calvin scoring in the fourth quarter with a three-point basket. A pair of three-point baskets from Ali Spayde and junior Rachel Warners (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) cut the deficit to 55-51 with 1:25 remaining. Despite five points from Rachel Warners in the final minute, the Pioneers made their free throws and walked away with a 64-56 victory.
The Knights edged the Pioneers on the boards, outrebounding Marietta, 41-40.
In her homecoming, Ali Spayde led all players with 22 points on Friday and led the Knights with four assists.
Bre Luurtsema and Rachel Warners both tallied nine rebounds. Luurtsema finished with 10 points and Warners had 14 points.
In the record book, Spayde moved into 10th place on Calvin career scoring list, moving past Kristen McDonald. Luurtsema moved past Pam Wubben and into a tie for seventh place on the Calvin career rebounding list with Brooke Van Eck. Luurtsema and Van Eck now both with 553 career rebounds.
Calvin looks to bounce back on Saturday when the Knights face Otterbein.
Received on Sat Dec 30 00:06:14 2017