On Wednesday, Feb. 6, the No. 13 Calvin Knights (20-2, 11-0 MIAA) traveled to Alma to play the Scots (8-14, 3-8 MIAA).
Playing on the road, the Knights soundly defeated the Scots 90-66 to remain undefeated in the MIAA and reach the 20 win plateau. This game brings the Scots’ losing streak to four games while Calvin extends their winning streak to 14 games.
Calvin took the first lead of the game with a 3 by forward senior Tom Snikkers, but Alma stuck around, keeping the game close. Alma forward Isaiah Law hit a 3 to tie the game at 17-17. However, 12 seconds later, Calvin guard senior Bryan Powell hit a 3 to put the Knights up for good.
After that three, Calvin went on a 26-10 run to finish off the half up 46-27. During this run, Alma missed 11 shots while Calvin converted 13 shots, including three 3-point shots by Powell.
At halftime Snikkers led all scorers with 17 points while Powell was close behind with 16. Center junior Tyler Kruis also contributed seven points, on a perfect three-for-three shooting, in nine minutes of play. The Knights’ hot shooting, 54.8 percent, made up for their sloppy ball control as they turned the ball over eight times.
Meanwhile Kyle Aho led Alma in scoring at the half, with 10 points in 11 minutes of play off the bench. Alma harried the Knights coming up with four steals and forcing eight total turnovers, but it was not enough to make up for their 29.4 percent shooting.
The second half was more of the same as Calvin continued to build their lead. Snikkers remained too much for Alma to handle, putting up another 11 points in the second half to bring his total to 28. Kruis remained perfect from the field adding another six points in seven more minutes of playing time.
The Knights went to their bench more often in the second half as they remained out comfortably ahead of Alma. Junior Jordan Mast led bench scoring with all eight of his points coming in the second half. Alma guard Greg Silverhorn led the Scots in scoring during the second half with 11 points.
Snikkers’ 28 points moved him up to 9th place on Calvin’s all-time scoring list.
“Moving up the list is a pretty cool accomplishment, but it’s not something I focus on.” Said Snikkers, “Every point I’ve scored in my four years here are credited to my teammates and our overall success.”
Most importantly, Snikkers contribution garnered the Knights their 20th win of the season, a mark they have not reached since the 2005-06 season. Snikkers attributes this success to the chemistry that the team has developed.
“Last year we had a few players miss some time for several different reasons, but that opened the door for some other players to get some valuable playing time last year. As a result we have a much deeper team with a lot of game experience together,” said Snikkers.
