MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Flying Dutch Fan]

I think it will be helpful tonight if Blackledge does not sit the first five minutes of the game.

It will also be helpful if Hope can have more defensive rebounds than Calvin has offensive ones.

It will also be helpful if Hope can make better than 1 in 4 bunnies.

It will also be helpful if Calvin doesn't make 22 turnovers like they did last week--nor the 26 Alma committed last night. Yikes!

I, for one, found those extremely helpful.

And let's give the Hope defense some credit on those turnovers. Hope had 14 and 17 steals in those games.

[sac]

Drew Sheckell  6-4 F  Birmingham Groves  will attend Kalamazoo

[GreatScot!?]

A bit of a disappointing season for the Scots, but loved how the team played throughout the season despite losing 4 rotation players to season ending injuries. Very up and down year for Alma, but in hindsight, that has to be expected when there are five freshman playing heavy minutes. Trevor Gernaat (16/7) and Tyler Edwards (11/7/3) had great senior seasons and were recognized by being on the All-MIAA First and Second team respectively. Chase Fairchild was having was also having a good season before his career was sadly cut short by an achilles injury. Bryan Hines stepped up for the Scots late in the season helping the Scots drop 113 on Olivet and playing against Hope last night. All great character guys and take care of business in the classroom as well, they will be greatly missed. With that being sad, I believe Alma's future is extremely bright. The injuries suffered this year were rough, but it allowed our talented freshman to get experience out on the court. Those 5 freshman, combined with Gamble, Bradfield, Holmes and Shiebert will form a solid rotation for the Scots and I like there chances in the MIAA next year. Last of all, looking forward to watching another great rivalry game tonight!

[MaroonKnighty]

Whoa! Calvin Sucks!  hopefully they will get it together int he second half.

[realist]

One of the best all time Calvin Hope games.  F/T's down the stretch won it for Calvin 86-83.
When Calvin was down 14 points, and Hope was shooting lights out hard to imagine the Knights would make it all the way back.

[GoKnights68]

4 out the last 5 miaa tourney championships .  Way to go Calvin!

[Grutte Dirk]

Whoa! Calvin Sucks! Hopefully they will get it together in the second half.

Yes and Yes.

[calvinite]

wow. Gutsy performance by players from both teams. Big contributions from starters and from the bench for both teams.

Despite Hope's shooting lights out at the start of the game, Calvin really played solid defense and limited their turnovers. They made their free throws down the stretch, and while making 5 out of 13 3 point attempts pales in comparison  to Hawkins' 5 for 8, it's nevertheless an improvement over many games earlier this season.

Congratulations to both teams, and best wishes to them this weekend. I just hope they don't meet in the tournament anytime soon.

[almcguirejr]

Calvin completes the hat trick at DeVos. 3-0 the last 8 days!

[pointlem]

The Hope players were in visible grief after the game, and understandably so. As a Hope fan I must say, though, that I'd rather lose what anyone would call a great game, with both teams--including my own--playing well, and not just having an off night.  That was great DIII basketball--much better from both teams than their game last Saturday, with jaw-dropping good performances by Dante Hawkins and Cam Denny (so glad we have one more year to enjoy Dante).

Kudos to Calvin, and also to the great support of its fans--including a robust student turnout.

[almcguirejr]

The game tonight was as good as it gets.

Calvin played about as well as they could play in second half:

-Out rebounded Hope 23-11

-18-19 from the FT line

-held Hope to 12-32 from the field the second half

-Cam Denney played the half of his life with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists

- Michael Welch 13 points on 6-7 shooting

-Michael Wilkes 8-8 from the line

-Bykerk 4 points and 3 offensive rebounds in 4 minutes

-Canonie and Welch both playing with 4 fouls, not fouling out, and KVS for staying with them

Tony DeWitte was very good tonight. 14 points from him was unexpected and huge.

KVS putting the pieces together to beat Hope twice in a week on Hope's floor  is great. Calvin beat a Hope team tonight that played very well.



What a great team win!

[maroonandgold]

One of the best all time Calvin Hope games.  F/T's down the stretch won it for Calvin 86-83.
When Calvin was down 14 points, and Hope was shooting lights out hard to imagine the Knights would make it all the way back.
(quote from Realist)

The game tonight was as good as it gets.

Calvin played about as well as they could play in second half:

-Out rebounded Hope 23-11

-18-19 from the FT line

-held Hope to 12-32 from the field the second half

-Cam Denney played the half of his life with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists

- Michael Welch 13 points on 6-7 shooting

-Michael Wilkes 8-8 from the line

-Bykerk 4 points and 3 offensive rebounds in 4 minutes

-Canonie and Welch both playing with 4 fouls, not fouling out, and KVS for staying with them

-KVS putting the pieces together to beat Hope twice in a week on Hope's floor  is great. Calvin beat a Hope team tonight that played very well.

-Tony DeWitte making 2 free throws when an opposing player picks up a technical in a tight game turned out to be crucial. (14 huge points from him tonight)

What a great team win!

I totally agree with both of you and the earlier comment from a Hope fan!  That final comment about the team win is really the key as far as I can see.  It is hard to remember of team of more spirit, unselfishness, and determination at the end of games than this group.  Hope really played well, but the way Calvin attacked the basket for shots and rebounds toward the end made them close to unstoppable at that crucial point with only minutes left.

[wiz]

Calvin completes the hat trick at DeVos. 3-0 the last 8 days!

Because Calvin improved throughout the year while Hope did not.

[pointlem]

-Canonie and Welch both playing with 4 fouls, not fouling out, and KVS for staying with them

Agreed . . . KVS let Canonie play with two fouls in the first half, and let Canonie and Welch keep playing with 4 fouls . . . preferring to maximize their minutes and contributions (over benching them to be sure to have them at the game's end, as if those minutes count more) . . . and it paid off for Calvin.

[oldknight]

I agree with others that this was a terrific game, almost a renewal of the great Rivalry games from the past. Wonderful atmosphere with both teams competing hard and--for the most part--quite well. Some games your opponent gives you the win and some games you just snatch it away. Tonight was the latter for Calvin who looked to me to just have a little more gas in the tank down the stretch. Outstanding clutch free throw shooting with the Knights going 18-19 the second 20 minutes. After getting outboarded the first half, Calvin dominated the paint in the second, including 10 offensive boards after the break. Other game notes:

--You won't see Cam Denney play under control for a full game very often but he did tonight. A very quiet and efficient 21 points, 8 points and 4 assists with few mistakes. His well timed, under control, step-in three ball with 2:30 left was the biggest shot of the game and created about as loud a roar from a Calvin crowd as you will ever hear at DeVos.

--Blackledge is a load to guard but it seemed Hope struggled even more with Welch who was money down the stretch in a pressure packed game.

--Dante Hawkins is a warrior, playing the full 40, but I thought he tired late. Siegel, who was sick yesterday also looked tired but Mike did hit an important second half triple.

--Tony DeWitte was also quietly efficient, getting a patient 14 points and grabbing five important rebounds.

--Not a lot of mistakes by either team. Calvin with 8 turnovers and Hope just 7. Quite a contrast from last Saturday's game.

--I'll leave it to goodknight to remind Calvin fans of Bosko's prescient comment in December.