MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Hope 81 Kalamazoo 71 F

Hope led by 24 before half, Kalamazoo cut it to 4 late.   There were a million fouls and free throws in between. Kzoo went 0-18 from the three point line which was significant.

Credit the Hornets for "abandoning" the three after halftime (they were 0-15 in the first half) and repeatedly driving to the hoop and drawing a ton of fouls.  2nd half had a total of 37 fouls called with 51 FTs taken.  So a whistle essentially every 30 seconds - not high quality viewing for sure.

[Dark Knight]

After the first 18+ minutes of the most miserable offense I have seen from a Calvin team in many years, the Knights dominated the final 21+ minutes of play against the visitors from Adrian. Trailing 26-14 with 1:33 left in the first half, the Knights scored the last 7 points of opening frame. That welcome and needed closure to first 20 minutes marked the beginning of total dominance over the Bulldogs, with Calvin closing out the game on a 59-17 run and a 73-43 win at VNA. Calvin missed 9 straight wide-open shots from the arc to start the game, but the host team then made 8 of their next 9 to fuel the rout. As bad as Calvin was on offense in the first half, they played terrific defense throughout, and that appeared to wear on their opponent. Ty Horky--who seemed to be the only Calvin player to do anything the opening frame--led with 17, followed by Egekeze and Varnado adding 14 each, and Winkle with 10. Adrian got 20 from Dickerson and 10 from Logan. The Calvin win marked Bill Sall's 100th victory in his 6th season as head coach.

That was the most extreme "tale of two halves" that I remember seeing. If the game had continued as the first 18 minutes went, it would have ended as a 27-point Adrian victory, 58-31. If the whole game had gone like the last 22 minutes, it would have been a 76-point Calvin win, 107-31. That's a 103 point difference in the margin of victory/loss!

[Greek Tragedy]

Too bad no one decided to run the MIAA pick em this year so I could defend my title.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Isn't there an old adage of "You won it, you run it"?

[wiz]

Here we go, Calvin, here we go!

[TUAngola]

This weeks scores:

Trine 77 Alma 48
Trine 66 Albion 56

Offensively both games were icky, shooting woeful.  Guys passing up open looks for contested shots at the rim. Very hesitant on when to take shots.
Moore and Tucker have been good, especially today.  Moore kept us in the game the first half.
Alma has a ways to go be to competitive.  Albion is a very physical team, good defense. Umeh is so athletic.
We got in the bonus 5 minutes into the second half today, free throws were the difference, we were 23-30, Albion 10-16.
Coach Miller visibly frustrated today, which is rare.  We need to find some shooters other than Moore.
I don't think 'going big' is working, we need better guard play.  But Coach loves defense and the starters are his best defenders.
Would love to see Brenner and Greenamoyer get more PT, could be answer to outside shooting woes.
Smylie finally looked for his shot second half today, can't have him with zero attempts like the first half.
We're going to have to win 'ugly' the rest of the year.  Defense has been the constant all year.
Big week next week, at Adrian Wednesday, Hope at home on Saturday.  We'll need to hit more shots to win either.

[oldknight]

In a game redolent of Calvin's Wednesday win over Adrian, the host team again allowed the visitors to VNA (this time it was Olivet's turn) grab an early double-digit lead over the Knights, a lead created by some net-scorching shooting by the Comets. Barely halfway through the opening half, Calvin trailed 26-15. But over the next 12 minutes of play, Calvin outscored their opponent 34-2. Ballgame. Final score was 86-55.

Daane Harvey's career night fueled the Knights' comeback, with the former Forest Hills Eastern prepster scoring a game-high 19 points on 6-8 from the field, all from beyond the arc, and doing his damage in only 15 minutes of PT. Trevin Winkle was very good too, adding 17 points, while Egekeze and Brady Ewing had 10 each for the winners. Kretschman, Wichman and Richardson led Olivet with 13, 11, and 10 points. I must say, Olivet looks like a team that could cause trouble down the road, as they have a couple of fairly athletic big guys who impressed me.

[wiz]

Here we go, Calvin, here we go to Holland!

[doc]

Daane Harvey's career night fueled the Knights' comeback, with the former Forest Hills Eastern prepster scoring a game-high 19 points on 6-8 from the field, all from beyond the arc, and doing his damage in only 15 minutes of PT. 

I have thought it strange that Harvey doesn't get more minutes, even though he has typically been used as a "defense/hustle" player.  I think he brings way more offensive upside than other bench players, like Trip Reimersma for example, who just isn't playing with a lot of confidence right now. Daane is making a case for increased game time.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Per X, Cameron Essell, 5-11 PG East Lansing HS has committed to Albion

[sac]

Per X, Cameron Essell, 5-11 PG East Lansing HS has committed to Albion

Cam's dad Matt was a guard at Albion in the early 90's, I think he played with Marcus Wourman Sr, maybe Pete Aerts if you remember those guys.  This probably wasn't a hard sell    .  Matt was the long time coach at Holt High School until stepping down 8 years ago, which seems impossible it was that long ago.


East Lansing is likely going to make a strong run at the State title this year.   

[wiz]

Here we go, Calvin, here we go to Holland!

That was fun.

[pointlem]

Here we go, Calvin, here we go to Holland!

That was fun.

Agree, Wiz. Near the end I said to my seatmate, "This has been a great game, regardless of who wins." Back-and-forth, 16 lead changes, rebounds minus turnovers essentially equal, hard but sportsmanlike play by both teams, neither of which shot well (especially at free throws), but with Calvin just enough higher percentage shooting than Hope to make the difference.

Parker Swartz's 19 points off the bench was a difference maker for Calvin. He was impressive. And perhaps Calvin fans can reciprocate by empathizing with our pleasure in watching Marcus Wourman's drives into the lane--a marriage of athleticism and ballet. Anytime he sees a path, I'd encourage him to go for it.

[BigBallBoy]

A good game at DeVos last night where the margins between winning and losing were so narrow.  The teams really are pretty even across the board - outcomes so often depends on which team is able to assert their strength more consistently.  It certainly helped Calvin to have Swartz come off the bench for 19 points in 22 minutes and be effective on Defense!

In the end, I think two areas determined the game, though much more can be said.  The FG% advantage really helped Calvin, with Hope going stagnant, settling for three's, and heaving shots (and making some) at the end of the shot-clock.  Wourman did his best to keep Hope in it and yet the absence of scoring off the bench and a few plays/shots not made served to the downfall of the Home team.  I think the Commentators helpfully mentioned these "funks" that Hope gets into offensively where they just don't click and miss 3-7 minutes of output.  Not sure what that is attributed to, of if it is just the nature of runs in the game of basketball...

A second area was that Hope wasn't able to maximize Quillan - both with him being a force down low (though he does shoot the three well!) and others playing off him when he was doubled in the post.  I am not exactly what can or should be done and it depends on where the double-comes from as Calvin did a good job of mixing up the double team and doing it quickly.  It must be said that Vernado is rock-solid with such a well-rounded skill-set - every rebound was a toss-up with Calvin doing a great job of swarming to the ball and having people around to grab the second bounce.

In the end, it was a fun game but a tough one to drop at Home.  Thankfully there is a lot of season left and it can be better to lose early than to lose late.  It will be important to get crucial wins - which, in my opinion, Saturday will be.

[oldknight]

In a game worthy of its Rivalry moniker, Calvin prevails with a heart stopping win over Hope 65-60. At no point in the game was the scoring differential greater than 6 points, and for much of it the two teams were never more than 3 points apart. While Calvin struggled to deal with Hope's dribble penetration, I thought the Knights really put the clamps down hard at the most crucial stages, particularly late in the game as Hope scored only 3 points the final 5+ minutes of play. Two key events struck me. The first came in the opening 2 minutes of the second half when Hope took a sudden 40-34 lead, forcing Bill Sall to call a timeout before the 18 minute mark to right the ship. Calvin responded well, going on an 8-0 run of their own to retake a 2 point lead. From there, it was a dogfight to the end. The visitors to DeVos Arena defended well and got a couple of late breakaways the final 3 minutes, with Owen Varnado's old fashioned 3 point play really sealing the deal to put Calvin up 61-57. For the second straight game Calvin got a terrific and well-needed contribution from a bench player, this time Parker Swartz leading the winners with 19 points. Egekeze and Varnado both had double-doubles for Calvin with each scroring 16 and grabbing 10 boards. Wourman was terrific for Hope with 21 points, and Quillan added 12.