Box Score By Gina de Haan
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Calvin men's basketball team entered Saturday afternoon's contest against Olivet College looking to bounce back from a buzzer-beater loss to Olivet and snap a four game losing streak.
The Knights came into the MIAA matchup with an 8-12 overall record, with a 3-6 conference mark while the Comets were 3-17 overall and 2-7 in the league.
At the first meeting between the teams in mid-January, it was Calvin who rolled to a 91-44 victory.
This time around, the competition was closer, with Calvin claiming victory after pulling away in the second half, fueled by a strong rebounding effort. The final score was 80-55.
The Comets got on the board right away off a made jump shot by Chris Chrzan, but sophomore Tony Canonie quickly responded with two points for the Knights. Olivet's Chrzan then knocked down a three-pointer to make the score 5-2 less than a minute into the contest.
However, the Knights began to warm up and, after some made free throws and jump shots by Cam Denney and senior Jordan Daley, the Knights had earned a 9-6 lead.
Olivet's Jordan Ellis tied the game by knocking down a triple, but Olivet's momentum was quickly halted after Daley cut to the hoop and scored his 1,001st career point. Daley becomes the 25th player in Calvin men's basketball history to join the 1000-point club.
The scoreboard now read 11-9 in favor of the Knights and Olivet called its first timeout with 16:20 remaining in the first half.
Following the timeout, the teams exchanged points for the next few minutes, with the Comets cutting Calvin's lead to one (18-17) at the 11:31 mark after a made free throw by Lee Gardner.
The Knights weren't ready to give up their lead and a minute freshman Preston Huckaby drained a three-pointer and after a made Olivet jumper, Daley drained a triple of his own.
Mike Siegel followed, putting in a layup and junior Nate Drews extended Calvin's lead to double digits (29-19) by sinking a shot from behind the arc.
The Comets would score the next five points and then neither team would score until the 3:29 mark when sophomore Michael Wilks put in a layup to make the score 31-24.
Huckaby then hit another three to give Calvin a 34-24 advantage with just under three minutes to play in the first half.
Olivet cut the Knights' lead to six (34-28) with 1:50 to play, the last bucket of the half.
At the half, the Knights were outrebounding the Comets 22-9.
Following the break, Calvin slowly pulled away and secured their victory alte in the second half.
The Comets' Gardner was fouled in the first ten seconds of the second half and made both of his following free throws. Daley also was fouled and went 1-for-2 from the line, but Olivet continued to chip away at Calvin's lead as RJ Haas added two more Comet points, making the score to 35-32.
But Calvin pushed back, extending its lead to seven after three points from Daley. When Olivet answered with a three, junior Cameron Denney drained another triple in response, bringing the score to 44-37 with just under 15 minutes left to play.
After two made Olivet free throws, the Knights would go on an eight-point scoring streak that was halted at the 12-minute mark when Olivet's Eric Ewing knocked down a jumper. Juniors Mike Siegel, Michael Wilks and Nate Drews all contributed to this scoring effort that gave the Knights a 52-39 lead.
Near the midpoint of the half, Drews sunk another triple to give Calvin a 16-point lead. The Comets would score the next 7 points, cutting the Knights' lead to 9 (59-50) with 8:15 remaining.
Freshman Carlos Amoros made a jump shot to bring the Knights' lead back to double digits. After a made Olivet free throw, the Knights then went on a run to secure their victory, scoring 12 consecutive points and holding their visitors scoreless for nearly five minutes. Calvin now possessed a comfortable 73-53 advantage with 2:25 left in the contest.
The Knights had a well-balanced scoring effort, with 10 players contributing points.
Daley led the Knights with 16 points and seven rebounds. Wilks finished with 12 points Denney and Huckaby added 10 points each. Denney and junior Michael Welch snagged seven boards apiece.
Drews finished with eight points, Amoros and Siegel with seven each, Welch with six and Tony Canonie and sophomore Nate Meppelink with two apiece.
The Knights shot 43.5% (27-62) from the floor and 34.4% (11-32) from three-point range.
Calvin outrebounded Olivet 51-24. The Knights' bench contributed 40 points while the Comets' scored only nine.
"The guys knew that our backs were against the wall here," said head coach Kevin Vande Streek. Olivet has a lot of talent and I thought we just stayed with them, grinded it out and got some really quality play from some guys who don't have the biggest names yet, which is really great to see."
The Knights hit the road on Wednesday as they travel to Alma College (16-4, 9-0 MIAA) for another conference competition. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m.
