By Calvin Sports Information Student Assistant Andrew Knot
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - At one point leading by 18, the Knights dropped a six-point decision to rival Hope on Saturday afternoon, falling 76-70 in the 178th edition of the Calvin-Hope rivalry.
Calvin opened the game on fire from the field. Senior Trent Salo buried an NBA range three to give Calvin an 8-0 lead. Calvin maintained its hot shooting throughout the half. Senior Brent Schuster hit two crucial three's and senior Trent Salo and freshman Tyler Kruis teamed up to knock down three consecutive three's to cap off an 11-0 run for the Knights.
The run forced a timeout from Hope Coach Matt Neil. The Knights were hardly fazed, though. Schuster responded with a towering two-handed dunk over Hope's interior defenders. Calvin rolled into the halftime with a 13 point advantage, after leading by 18 at one point.
Calvin was 20 minutes from a regular season sweep of their arch rival.
"We knew Hope was going to make a run," said Calvin sophomore Tom Snikkers, who finished the game with 20 points.
Hope gradually chipped away at the Knights' lead. A David Krombeen hit a lay-in and drew a foul to cut Calvin's lead to 49-40. That old-fashioned three-point finish foreshadowed the rest of the game for the Knights. Colton Overway filled an and-1 reverse lay-in and knocked down the free-throw to tie the game at 54. From there, Krombeen hit a series of jump shots to build a lead for the Dutch. Calvin was able to cut the lead to 72-70 with a minute remaining. But that ended the scoring for the Knights.
Hope senior and leading scorer Will Bowser was true from the free-throw line, connecting on four consecutive free throws to finish off a 76-70 victory for Hope. Bowser led Hope with 26 points while Krombeen finished with 23.
Calvin coach Kevin Vande Streek touched on the difference between the two halves.
"We strung some good things together in the first half and Hope strung a lot of good things together in the second half," said Vande Streek.
The 18 point comeback marks the biggest comeback in the history of the Calvin-Hope rivalry.
With the loss, Calvin drops to 10-9 overall and 5-3 in the conference. Hope now holds a two game lead in the MIAA.
Hope now leads the all-time series with Calvin 91-87.