By Gina de Haan
On Saturday afternoon, the Calvin men's basketball team welcomed the Kalamazoo College Hornets to Van Noord Arena for its final regular season home game. Calvin's four seniors – Cam Denney, Nate Drews, Nick Kronemeyer and Michael Welch - were honored prior to the contest.
Calvin head men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek earned his 500th career victory as the Knights defeated the Hornets 64-56. Vande Streek is in his 21st year as head men's basketball coach and is the all-time leader for victories by a Calvin men's basketball coach.
"I thought it was a great team win and a really great one to end the season on, as far as home games," said Vande Streek. "A lot of guys played well and our intensity was significantly better than last game."
The Hornets jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but the Knights responded with four straight points to cut the deficit to one point.
Kalamazoo maintained its lead until freshman Derrick DeVries knocked down a three-pointer to put Calvin up 13-12. Freshman Tony DeWitte (Grandville, MI/Calvin Christian HS) followed, draining another triple and sophomore Austin Bykerk (Jenison, MI/Unity Christian HS) added a pair of free throws to complete the Knights' 8-0 run.
The Knights would outscore the Hornets 15-14 in the remainder of the first half, including three three-point field goals, courtesy of Bykerk, Alex Bos and DeWitte.
Junior Mike Siegel would start the second half with back-to-back threes to give the Knights a 45-24 lead. Senior Cam Denney followed, knocking down a jumper. Calvin possessed a 23-point lead just over a minute into the second half.
The Hornets chipped away at the Knights' lead, going on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 14 points. DeVries interrupted the scoring run by draining a three, but Kalamazoo responded with four more points, forcing a Calvin timeout.
Out of the break, Kalamazoo's Tanner Blyly hit a triple to bring the Hornets within 10 points of the Knights, but Siegel responded for Calvin with a three-pointer of his own.
After back-and-forth scoring, the Hornets cut the Calvin's lead to 10 points once again. Alex Dykema forced Calvin turnover and hit a jump shot on the other end of the floor, making the score 60-50 with five minutes left to play.
With 21 seconds remaining, Kalamazoo scored two points from the free throw line, but Kronemeyer knocked down a pair of free throws seconds later to secure the Knights' victory.
"Kalamazoo is bigger, thicker and they really take away the inside game," said Vande Streek. "They force you to shoot it from the perimeter. Going into the game, I had said if we make more than six threes, I like our chances because that's what would have to happen."
Kalamazoo was led by Jimmy Paprocki who finished with 15 points. Chase Baysdell contributed nine points and nine boards in the loss.
The Knights will travel to Adrian on Wednesday to take on the Bulldogs. In the first meeting of the season between the two teams, Calvin earned a 79-67 win at Van Noord Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.