Subject: CKSR (Basketball Teams Open NCAA III Tournament Play With First Round Victories)
From: Jeffrey Febus <jfebus@calvin.edu>
To: "Calvin-sports@calvin.edu" <Calvin-sports@calvin.edu>
CC: null
CALVIN KNIGHT SPORTS REPORT FOR MARCH 6, 2015
Basketball Teams Open NCAA III Tournament With First Round Victories
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 80, Baldwin-Wallace 60
By Gina de Haan
On Friday night, the Calvin women's basketball team welcomed Baldwin-Wallace to Van Noord Arena as the two teams matched up in the first round of the four-team NCAA III Regional.
Calvin entered the game with a 27-0 record, while Baldwin-Wallace was 22-6 prior to the contest.
The Knights and the Yellow Jackets had met four times in the NCAA III Tournament, including the game in which Baldwin-Wallace topped the Knights 76-72 in double-overtime in the Round of 16 in 2000.
Despite a second half surge by the visitors, Calvin used solid first half play along with teamwork to pull out an 80-66 NCAA III first round Tournament win. With this victory, Calvin matches the school record for wins in a season.
Backed by an energetic home crowd, the Knights came out strong; to start the first half, Calvin went on a 12-0 run. Senior forward Hannah Acre scored the first points of the contest off a pass from junior guard Abby Springer. This bucket kicked off a solo seven-point run by Acre. Acre converted on a three-point play and scored an additional bucket, forcing Baldwin-Wallace to call timeout to stop Calvin's increasing momentum. But following the break, senior forward, and the 2015 MIAA MVP, Breanna Verkaik hit a three-pointer to give her team a double-digit advantage. Acre scored once again to complete the run.
The Yellow Jackets scored the next seven points of the game, off of a three-point play by Allyson Helleis and two buckets by Audrey Smolik.
Baldwin-Wallace continued to chip away at Calvin's lead, outscoring the Knights 7-4 in the following four minutes, bringing the score to 16-14, still in favor of the Knights.
At the midpoint in the first half, Breanna Verkaik brought Calvin's lead back up to five with a made three-point bucket. Shari Mangas of Baldwin-Wallace answered with a triple of her own.
The Knights proceeded to go on another twelve point run, holding their visitors scoreless for over five minutes. Calvin now possessed a 14-point lead (31-17) with 4:57 left to play in the first half.
The two teams went back and forth in scoring for the remainder of the half and Calvin headed into the locker room with a 40-24 lead.
At the half, two Knights were already in double digits in points. Leading Calvin in scoring was Hannah Acre with 15 points. Breanna Verakaik followed with 15, shooting perfect from three-point range (3-3).
Mackenzie Colombo and Audrey Smolik led Baldwin-Wallace in scoring with seven points apiece.
The Knights shot 16-30 (53.3%) from the floor and 3-6 (50%) from three-point range, while the Yellow Jackets were 10-35 (28.6%) and 2-8 (25%).
The second half started off much more slowly than the first, with neither team scoring for 2:40. A triple by senior guard Shari Mangas, three jumpers by Smolik, and another by sophomore guard Sydney Clark minimized Baldwin-Wallace's deficit to five (40-35).
The Knights were 0-9 from the floor in the first five minutes of the half, and held scoreless by a resilient Yellow Jacket team.
Baldwin-Wallace went on to score back-to-back three-pointers, courtesy of Smolik and Mangas. The Yellow Jackets now led the Knights by a score of 41-40.
Hannah Acre quickly answered, scoring a much-needed two points for the Knights; Acre's transition bucket was the first of the half for Calvin.
Free throws by both teams tied the score at 43 with just under 13 minutes remaining in the contest. Smolik drained her third three-point basket of the game to break the tie, but senior guard Kayla Engelhard responded with a made jumper.
Midway through the second half, freshman guard Bre Luurtsema came up with a big offensive board and put the layup back for two. Calvin had a one-point lead for less than 10 seconds before Smolik's fourth triple made the score to 49-47 in favor of the Yellow Jackets.
Two good free throws from sophomore guard Anna Timmer tied the game at 49 with just under eight minutes to go. Timmer's two points were the first of yet another twelve consecutive for the Knights. Another pair of free throws for Timmer capped off the run, the score now 59-49 with Calvin leading.
Baldwin-Wallace continued to be successful from behind the three-point arc, keeping them alive, while the Knights stuck to their dribble-drive offense and capitalized on their numerous free throw opportunities.
"If you look at the free throw difference, 25-9, and that's obviously the difference in the game right there," said Baldwin-Wallace head coach Cheri Harrer after the game.
The teams continued to go back-and-forth in scoring. Despite four made three-pointers by the Yellow Jackets in the final 6:51 of the game, Calvin's guards stepped up in the final minutes. With just under five minutes left on the clock, Calvin head coach John Ross called timeout, the scoreboard now reading 66-60. The Knights finished out the contest by outscoring Baldwin-Wallace 14-6.
Calvin head coach John Ross credited Baldwin-Wallace for its lockdown defense and shooting efficiency. "I'm really pleased with our players and how we hung in there after going down. We were able to bounce back," said Ross.
The Knights put forth a well-balanced scoring effort. Hannah Acre led the Knights, finishing with a career-high 22 points.
"I really owe it to the guards," said Calvin high-scorer Acre. "I really just owe it to my teammates and our focus coming out from the beginning"
Breanna Verkaik followed Acre with 19 points while Anna Timmer scored 16, going 6-9 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. Kally Verkaik had a strong all-around game with 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a critical second half block.
"I think a lot of it is just unselfishness from all of us and we really do well with moving the ball around and finding the open person," said Breanna Verkaik.
"Calvin's a very good team. They're undefeated for a reason," said Baldwin-Wallace head coach Cheri Harrer. "They're so balanced. They can hit threes and take you inside."
Audrey Smolik, OAC player of the year candidate, and Shari Mangas came in with 25 and 17 points respectively, each hitting five triples. Claire Lemmon also contributed seven points and 11 boards.
"They [Smolik and Mangas] obviously weren't ready to be finished and they did everything they could do to help keep us playing," said Coach Harrer.
"That was hard. Especially when you're pressing you're bound to give up some open threes, and when they're going at it that makes things tough. We had to stay focused mentally," noted Coach Ross.
The Yellow Jackets made 9-16 (56.3%) attempted three-pointers in the second half.
"The first half we didn't play very well, and the second half we came out and showed what BW basketball is about, but it wasn't enough," noted Shari Mangas. "Against a great team like Calvin you have to put a full 40 minutes together."
In the first game of the evening, UW-Oshkosh defeated North Central 87-82. Despite the fast-paced game played by North Central, the Titans held a 45-41 lead at halftime. In the latter half, North Central showed resilience, using its high-pressure offense and defense to take a 60-59 lead with 10:27 left in the contest off a three-pointer by senior guard Maryssa Cladis. The lead changed hands numerous times during the remainder of the game. Although the Titans earned a ten-point lead at one point, the Cardinals hit two consecutive triples to cut the deficit to four with just over one minute on the clock. However, UW-Oshkosh held strong and advanced themself to the second round of the NCAA III Tournament.
Calvin and UW-Oshkosh will meet in the second round of the NCAA III Tournament on Saturday night at Van Noord Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Calvin 78, Oswego State 69
By Mark DeHaan
The Calvin men's basketball team traveled to Alliance, Ohio, and the campus of the University of Mount Union for its NCAA Tournament first-round matchup on Friday evening. The Knights faced off against the Lakers of Oswego State, winners of the State University of New York Athletic Conference.
Calvin entered the national tournament contest with a 21-6 record, while the Lakers were 19-9. The Knights were making their 20th NCAA Tournament appearance all-time, while it was only the third appearance for Oswego State, but its third in five years.
Despite a late run that saw Oswego State take a second-half lead, timely three-point shooting and strong shooting from the free-throw line saw Calvin claim a 78-69 victory. With the win, Calvin advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season.
The Knights jumped out to an early lead, building a 13-5 advantage in the opening five minutes behind eight points from senior Jordan Brink.
Minutes later, a dunk from senior Tyler Dykstra saw Calvin take its first double-digit lead at 21-10.
The Knights lead increased to as much as 12 with 7:53 remaining in the first half at 26-14.
A 12-2 Oswego State run then cut the Calvin lead to just four at 28-24 with 3:37 to go. In the remaining time, the Knights saw its lead build to seven as Calvin took a 36-29 lead into the break.
At halftime, Calvin shot just 34.2% from the field, but 6-of-15 from three-point range for 40%. Oswego State was 35.7% from the field in the opening period. The Knights held a 24-22 rebounding advantage at the break. Brink had ten points to lead the Knights while Brian Sortino led the Lakers with nine points.
In the second half, Calvin re-extended its lead to double-digits. With 12:44 to go, senior Daniel Stout hit a jumper to put the Knights up 58-45, their largest lead of the ball game.
Over the next six minutes, a 19-5 Oswego State run, capped by a layup by Sortino, saw the Lakers take their first lead of the game at 64-63 with 6:25 remaining.
A layup by junior Jordan Daley saw Calvin re-take the lead, and with under three minutes to go, junior Austin Parks hit two big threes, back-to-back, to put Calvin up 73-66 with 1:57 to go.
A triple from the Lakers brought them within four, but strong defense by the Knights, and 5-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line by Brink down the stretch, saw Calvin claim a 78-69 victory.
The Knights were 44.4% from the field, including 60% in the second half. Calvin was 12-of-24 for 50% from three-point range for the game. The Lakers finished at 40.4% from the field, 5-of-19 for 26.3% from beyond the arc. Calvin out-rebounded Oswego State 37-36.
Individually, Brink led Calvin with 18 points, adding seven rebounds and five assists. Freshman Connor VanderBrug contributed 17 points while Daley had his sixth double-double of the year with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Parks and Dykstra were also both in double-figures with 12 points and 10 points, respectively.
For Oswego State, Sortino and Kyle Covley each had 21 points. Rashawn Powell added 11 points and 12 boards.
"We got a little bit ahead, by double-digits, then they went zone and we struggled a little bit. Turned it over a couple times, just didn't find our rhythm at first," said head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "Then did a much better job - attacked at the free-throw line, Jordan Daley had a couple good plays in there then Austin (Parks) had two huge threes. They missed a couple, finally, down the stretch, we boarded it, handled the press, and made some free throws."
With the win, Calvin advances to the second round. The Knights have a quick one-day turnaround before the game on Saturday night.
"All these games are hard," said Vande Streek. "I liked the resolve of our guys tonight. We've had some toughness, we played a good schedule, and tomorrow night will be another tough challenge, no doubt about it."
Calvin's second-round contest will be played against host Mount Union on Saturday evening, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Mount Union was an 87-59 first round winner over Neumann College Friday.
