Box Score By Gina de Haan
On Saturday afternoon at Van Noord Arena, the Calvin men's basketball team hosted the Ravens of Anderson College in their nonconference season opener. The Knights defeated the visitors 108-98 in this high scoring competition.
The Knights came out strong on their home court, taking an early lead that they would possess for the remainder of the game. Although the Knights controlled most of the game, the Ravens, under the direction of West Michigan native Coach Owen Handy, didn't go down without a fight; the Ravens made runs of their own throughout the contest, even late in the second half.
Freshmen forward
Connor Vander Brug (Elmhurst, IL/Timothy Christian HS) scored the first points of the contest,
Jordan Brink (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS), who was recently named preseason Division III All-American, got a steal that led to a made jumper from senior forward
Tyler Dykstra (Zeeland, MI/Holland Christian HS). To make it a 6-0 Calvin run, junior guard
Jordan Daley (Grand Rapids MI/Grand Rapids Christian HS) drew a foul and knocked down his free throws.
Midway through the first half, the Ravens came within one point of the home team after Anderson senior Max Mollaun (Indianapolis, IN/Covenant Christian HS) hit a three-pointer. However, the comeback sparked a nine-point Knight run; Brink and Vander Brug made jumpers, Dykstra threw down a dunk, and junior point guard Austin Parks hit a three, giving the Knights a 10-point lead (32-22).
Anderson made another push with five minutes remaining in the first half, cutting Calvin's lead to four at one point (40-36). Calvin answered, scoring 14 points in the final three minutes of the half and holding their opponent to one. The Knights headed into the locker room with a 54-37 lead.
Tyler Dykstra played a strong offensive half, contributing 11 points and 5 assists. Dykstra was 4-5 from the floor, 1-1 from three-point range and 2-2 from the free-throw line.
To start the second half, the two teams went back-and-forth with scoring, but Anderson slowly chipped away Calvin's lead comfortable lead. With less than nine minutes remaining in the contest, Anderson came within one point of the Knights multiple times (74-73, 77-76, 79-78).
Although the Ravens were unwilling to quit, outscoring their hosts in the second half 61-54, they were unable to contain senior guard Jordan Brink. With eight minutes left in the contest, Brink checked back into the game; in the remainder of the contest he collected 16 points, three assists, three steals, and four boards. Brink scored one-third of the team's second half points. However, it was a team effort that, at one point, boosted Calvin's lead to 19 points (104-85); three other Knights contributed key baskets in the latter part of the second half. The Ravens hit a pair of threes in the final minute to cut Calvin's lead to 10 by the final buzzer.
Brink finished with a double-double, scoring a total of 27 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, and was three assists short of a triple-double. He and Jordan Daley led the team with five steals apiece. Daley played a solid all-around game, tallying 13 points, six boards, and five steals. Brad Visser (Grand Rapids, MI/Grandville Calvin Christian HS) added 14 points to the effort, including a crucial three-point-play.
Tyler Dykstra scored a career high of 23 points. Overall, the 6'9 senior made 10-11 of his field goal attempts, and was 1-1 for threes and 2-2 from the line; Dykstra also gave out five assists.
Despite that he didn't play the final eight minutes of the game, Vander Brug also picked up a double-double (in his first regular season college basketball game), finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Freshmen Tony Canonie (South Haven, MI/South Haven) and Michael Wilks (Hudsonville MI/Unity Christian HS) also saw the floor. Canonie had four assists in his seven minutes of playing time and Wilks had a block.
Starting point guard, Austin Parks (Niles, MI/Niles HS), finished with nine points, five assists and two boards.
For Anderson, Max Mollaun scored an impressive 35 points (13-23 for field goals, 6-8 for threes, and 3-6 for free throws). Justin Jordan scored 18. Nathan Gross also earned a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds.
The Ravens shot .541 from three-point range while the Knights struggled outside the perimeter, shooting .333. Calvin outrebounded the visitors 42-27. Calvin's bench scored over one-fifth of the team's points (23).
On Friday, November 21, Calvin will host the Waynesbug University Yellow Jackets in the Great Lakes Challenge. Tipoff will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Van Noord Arena. Taking place on Saturday, the 22nd is the second game of the Great Lakes Challenge – the Knights will match up against Ohio Wesleyan University at 3:00 p.m.
