MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[pointlem]

A dominating 93-53 win by Calvin in their season opener with an over matched Grace Christian quintet. There certainly will be growing pains by the Knights, but this is the most athletic hoops team we've seen at Knollcrest in quite some time. There will be growing pains, and Calvin's preseason prediction of a third place finish strikes me as about right, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if Calvin wins the post-season conference tournament.

Having watched Jalen Overway play several times in high school, I expected to see him become a dominant force at Calvin. I just didn't think it would be in the opening half of his college career. Jalen totally controlled the paint, scoring 20 the first 20 minutes, on his way to a double/double with 23 and 15.

That's an amazing first college game for Jalen, OldKnight. . . a star is born?
When Calvin and Hope meet up it may be a contest of size vs. speed?

[HOPEful]

When Calvin and Hope meet up it may be a contest of size vs. speed?

VanEssen has an inch on Dykhouse.
Sensenig and Schoonveld are the same height.
Egekeze and Thomas are the same height.
Wiegerink has an inch on Bult.
Overway and Quillan are the same height.

Calvin's depth is a little taller by comparison, but the starters are pretty much the same size.

[TUAngola]

Went to opening night of Thunder WBB and MBB last night.  Trine MBB opens season with 78-67 win over Manchester.  Starters were Cameron Awls, Connor Jones, Grant Pahl, Brent Cox and Manny Megnanglo.  We came out with a ton of energy and played very well for most of the first half.  Then the second half wasn't very inspiring and threw the ball away way too much.  Defensively we were so-so, we were good on the boards outrebounding them by a lot, but Manchester doesn't have much length, I think their tallest guy was 6'4.  Manchester's dribble drives were effective, leaving wide open shots for them from beyond 3.  For the Thunder it will be a work in progress after losing our top 4 players from last year.  It was nice to see Brent Cox play well, he seems to be embracing being a team leader now that he is a senior.  Connor Jones also played well.  Brent and Connor were by far our most efficient guys.  Newcomer Cameron Awls from Defiance College will be more of a facilitator than scorer.  Newcomer Jackson Jannsen from Manchester College looked very good the first half off the bench, but in the second didn't take any shot attempts.  We need to get him more involved in the offense because he can shoot.  He is a slightly built guy though, can't weigh more than a buckfifty.  Of our 3 sophs who saw action I thought Ryan Preston was the most improved, he'll help us a lot.  We only went nine deep, with the ninth being freshman Nate Tucker from Marshall MI.  He seemed a little unsure which is typical for a freshman, but I think will give some good minutes once he gains more experience.  I was surprised freshman Logan Gard didn't get to see the court.  With his length I thought he'd get some minutes as a back up to Brent and Manny.  Overall this is a game that we should have put the Spartans away, but let them hang around for most of the second half.  I don't think we'll be the second best in the MIAA per the coaches poll, maybe the potential is there, but the reality is not, at least not now

Trine:  Cox 24 and 11 reb, Jones 19 and 6 asst, Jannsen 8, and Megnanglo 8 and 11 reb
Manchester:  Lynas 15, Bullard 15 (Trine transfer 2 yrs ago), Smith 14, and Willoughby 13

     

[HOPEful]

Well... where in Easttown is the after party? Was not expecting that, at least not tonight and against Oshkosh. As a Hope fan, I'm already annoyed about the talk of how good Jalen Overway is and it hasn't even really started yet...

[oldknight]

Didn't see that coming, I'll admit it. If you told me that Calvin would play the #3 ranked D3 team without Egekeze (still nursing a bum ankle), and shoot 3-11 from the charity stripe, I would have thought it would be a 25 point butt whoopin'. Not so. And it's not like I think Oshkosh is overrated. They're a well-coached, veteran squad with size and talent. But Calvin played toe to toe with the Titans, showing some grit in the process, and far better defense (both team and individual D) than I expected to see from a very young team. Of course, it helps a lot when your post player (what is his name anyway?), goes 15-20 from the floor, 2-3 from the arc, and snares 11 boards.

[HOPEful]

"The second coming of Jeremy Veenstra"?

[KnightSlappy]

Well... where in Easttown is the after party? Was not expecting that, at least not tonight and against Oshkosh. As a Hope fan, I'm already annoyed about the talk of how good Jalen Overway is and it hasn't even really started yet...

I think the talk has officially begun. UW-Oshkosh could not handle him on the block. Coach Lewis of UWO was screaming at his guys to double the post in the 2nd half. And honestly, they should have sold out to do just that, especially on a night when Calvin was rather cold from the outside.

[Grutte Dirk]

I think the talk has officially begun. UW-Oshkosh could not handle him...

Can Calvin keep Overway out of the portal?  Will this be the test case for MIAA NIL?

[wiz]

"The second coming of Jeremy Veenstra"?

Mark Veenstra

[TUAngola]

Trine with a gritty win over Earlham last night 70-61.  Very physical game from start to finish.  Refs let them play that way though, but it was a very close to getting out of control, second half was getting chippy for sure.  Turnovers right now are a problem for us, had 23 last night after committing 18 on Tuesday.  A lot of them are just silliness, making awful decisions on passes, but Earlham picked you up full court the whole night and are very athletic which led to steals and easy buckets.  Our half court defense was pretty stout.  We made it tough on Earlham's go to guard Jaden Terry, he only shot 8-24 from the field and had 11 turnovers.  He probably doesn't see many guys in his league like Manny Megnanglo protecting the rim.  Manny had 4 blocks on the night but easily altered twice as many others.  He also contributed 5 steals, one on a pilfer at half court and rim rattling dunk to finish.  We were led again by Cox and Jones on the offensive end.  Soph Aidan Smylie had his best game so far for the Thunder, he should start to see even more minutes as he gains experience.

Kudos to the Blue Crew for showing up in force on a Friday night.  We've had big crowds to start the season, over 1100 Tuesday and over 1300 last night.

Trine: Cox 21, Jones 14, Megnanglo 8, Smylie 8   
Earlham: Terry 24, Makabu 11, Ozanne 8

[Dark Knight]

"The second coming of Jeremy Veenstra"?

Mark Veenstra

Yeah, with his hook shots and his use of his body, Jalen reminded me more of uncle Mark. Though Mark never hit any threes. And he didn't score 34 points in a game until his second semester.

This was a very physical, hard-fought game, but Jalen didn't back down, and he ended up with only one foul compared to 4 and 5 for Oshkosh's two centers. That alone is a pretty amazing stat for a freshman.

[tartanpride2016]

I think the talk has officially begun. UW-Oshkosh could not handle him...

Can Calvin keep Overway out of the portal?  Will this be the test case for MIAA NIL?

Calvin has the alums out there, put up the $$$!

Overway was an absolute beast at Holland Christian, and is a great example of a player nobody outside of Hope/Calvin could ever dream of recruiting. If not for the legacy of those schools, he is playing D2 ball.

[oldknight]

"The second coming of Jeremy Veenstra"?

Mark Veenstra

Yeah, with his hook shots and his use of his body, Jalen reminded me more of uncle Mark. Though Mark never hit any threes. And he didn't score 34 points in a game until his second semester.

This was a very physical, hard-fought game, but Jalen didn't back down, and he ended up with only one foul compared to 4 and 5 for Oshkosh's two centers. That alone is a pretty amazing stat for a freshman.

I agree the comparison with Mark Veenstra is apt. Like Mark, Jalen has a soft touch, a sweet baby hook, good hands, an even temperament, and is a good decision maker. Having played a lot of hoops with Mark over the years, I can assure you he would have been an excellent three point shooter if that rule had been in effect when Mark played. 

BTW: I'm pretty sure Mark and Jeremy's dad are first cousins. Mark is not Jeremy's uncle.

[oldknight]

Despite some uneven play, some silly freshmen mistakes, a bit of foul trouble, and the absence of Uchenna Egekeze from today's game, Calvin prevailed with a 76-63 win over UW-Stout to come away from the weekend with an unexpected sweep of their WIAC opponents. Jalen Overway led the Knights (I expect those words to written a lot the next 4 years) with 24 points. His play today demonstrated how important it is to have a capable post player on your team down the stretch in a game when you hold a small lead. When Stout came out with a half court press to try and force turnovers, it made Jalen's day so much easier with the help side defender just a few feet further away.

Logan Van Essen played a very nice second half to help stretch Calvin's 2 point half time lead. Boston Celtic, Jaylen Brown, didn't waste his side trip from Detroit to take in this afternoon's game at VNA. Jaylen, who plays the Pistons tonight, was in the house to see his cousin, Owen Vanardo, play a solid game for the Knights. Owen scored 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in 26 minutes of action. 

[maroonandgold]

Despite some uneven play, some silly freshmen mistakes, a bit of foul trouble, and the absence of Uchenna Egekeze from today's game, Calvin prevailed with a 76-63 win over UW-Stout to come away from the weekend with an unexpected sweep of their WIAC opponents. Jalen Overway led the Knights (I expect those words to written a lot the next 4 years) with 24 points. His play today demonstrated how important it is to have a capable post player on your team down the stretch in a game when you hold a small lead. When Stout came out with a half court press to try and force turnovers, it made Jalen's day so much easier with the help side defender just a few feet further away.

Logan Van Essen played a very nice second half to help stretch Calvin's 2 point half time lead. Boston Celtic, Jaylen Brown, didn't waste his side trip from Detroit to take in this afternoon's game at VNA. Jaylen, who plays the Pistons tonight, was in the house to see his cousin, Owen Vanardo, play a solid game for the Knights. Owen scored 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in 26 minutes of action.

What really impressed me in yesterday's game was Calvin's team play.  Every starter and Vanardo, who played as much as the starters, had assists.  Overway has shone he knows when to pass as well as when to shoot and led the team in assists.  The defense, too, was solid with every player who was in the game.  When they discovered that one Stout guard had almost unlimited shooting range, they went out after him to the point that he did not score again.  Bult's shooting was off, but he led in rebounds and had more assists.   Luka Ressler has shown himself to be solid point guard with Egekeze out.

They also showed the ability to handle being behind.  When they fell behind in the first half (I suspect from tiredness after playing at such high level the entire game on Friday), they pulled together and did what they needed to do.  As was mentioned, both Van Essen and Varnado had their best games so far.