For the second game in a row, the Warriors jumped out to a quick start opening the game on a 9-0 scoring run. Over the next few minutes, Calvary continued to play well at both ends of the court leading 18-4 at the 15-minute mark of the first half. Central’s defensive pressure then began to get to Calvary, but the Warriors stemmed the tide and led by nine with ten minutes left before halftime. CCCB then went on a 17-3 run to take a lead of their own. Both teams went back and forth over the final five minutes, Braydon Unruh connected on a driving layup with one second left to send Calvary into the locker room down three 46-43. Head coach Matt Sanders said, “We got off to another hot start, but again couldn’t sustain it. We fought unbelievably hard and hung in there to keep it close at halftime.”
The Warriors started the second half quickly as well, going on a 7-0 run to open the half and retaking the lead. The rest of the game was tightly contested with neither team able to gain much of an edge. A pair of Calvary turnovers allowed the Saints to extend their lead to seven, but the Warriors immediately cut the lead to four and two possessions later were within one and for a short time were tied. CU just couldn’t seem to score over the final minute and a half coming up just short, losing 90-86.
Sanders said after the game, “It was a war of wills, and their will was greater than ours tonight. We just didn’t make enough plays to come out on top of the scoreboard. I’m super proud of my team and really thankful that they play for God and give glory to Him.”
Unruh led the scoring for Calvary with 25 points, Zeb Green added 17 points and nine rebounds. Benjamin Jones had a 14 point, 10 rebound double-double, and Ques Harris was also in double figures with 10 points.
Andre Johnson led the Saints with 22 points.
With the loss, Calvary drops back to .500 at 9-9 on the season and 2-4 in conference play. The Warriors are back in action against Ecclesia at home on Friday.
Calvary added another conference win Friday night beating Faith Baptist 61-55.
The Warriors started the game well getting out to an early 6-2 lead. They then went cold from the floor allowing Faith to go on a 14-2 run holding CU scoreless for over seven minutes and ending the first quarter with a 16-8 lead.
In the early part of the second quarter, the Eagles picked up right where they left off and were able to extend their lead to as many as 10. Then with half-time looming and with Avery Kornstad and Anna Holloway leading the charge, the Warriors were able to match Faith and erase the deficit sending the game into the half tied at 30.
Both teams struggled offensively to begin the third quarter. After trading baskets a minute into the quarter neither team scored for almost 4 minutes. The only offense in the period for the Warriors came from a pair of Holloway field goals and a pair of Hannah Sorenson free throws. The Eagles eventually found their stride and led by five at the end of the third 41-36.
The Warriors opened the fourth with three straight buckets from Holloway to take a 42-41 lead with over eight minutes left. The game remained very close over the next six minutes, with both teams trading baskets and neither able to gain more than a three-point lead. With two minutes left Calvary began to pull away extending the lead to ten twice and holding on for the 61-55 victory.
The Warriors were playing without starters Taylor Hunter and Anna Davis, who combined average over 29 points and 10 rebounds a game. After the game head coach Tressa Shoemaker said the game was “a true team effort, with several players stepping up and making big plays towards the end to seal the win.”
Holloway lead Calvary with a game-high 18 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Kornstad added 13 points and six boards.
Michaela Crider led the Eagles with 14 points.
With the conference victory, the Warriors improve to 9-6 on the season. Up next is Emmaus in Dubuque, IA on January 18.
The Warriors picked up a big conference win Friday over Faith Baptist, in a battle between the 10th and 11th ranked teams in the country.
Calvary got off to a fast start grabbing an early 6-0 lead. Faith then went on a 9-0 run holding the Warriors scoreless for over four minutes. For the rest of the half, the game went back and forth, with both teams finding success at the offensive end and neither team able to gain more than a five-point lead. After a pair of made Eagle free throws, the Warriors went into halftime trailing 38-35.
Faith opened the second half with a pair of baskets to extend their lead to eight. Off a great pass from Jay Lems, Ben Jones created, and converted, a one-and-one opportunity to cut the lead back to five and momentarily stem the tide. Over the next eight minutes, the Eagles matched the Warriors blow-for-blow and held a 59-52 lead at the 10-minute mark. With Calvary struggling to cut the lead to less than seven Cameron Bender knocked down three straight three-pointers, on back-to-back-to-back possessions, and evened the game at 61. The game remained tight until Lems hit a three to put the Warriors up 74-70 and provide some breathing room with three minutes left. The rest of the game became a free throw shooting contest won by the Warriors, who were 19-21 from the line on the night, as Calvary pulled out the 83-78 win.
After the game head coach Matt Sanders called Bender “the player of the game” as he made 5 of CU’s 6 threes and put the Warriors back in the game with his shooting in the second half.
Sanders also pointed out Braydon Unruh, Zeb Green, and Tim Marchbanks as key individual contributors and said the Warriors played a “fantastic game defensively” holding the best offensive rebounding team in the country to just ten second-chance points.
All five starters scored in double figures Friday night as the team defeated Panhandle State University 88-78 in the Pyramid. It was a statement win for the program as the team defeated their first NAIA DI program in 24 years to move to 7-5 on the season.
“We are really starting to see the offense pick up and we are playing good team basketball,” Warrior Head Coach Matt Sanders said. “God is truly being glorified through this. We want Him to be lifted high and to be seen when we play!”
The Warriors balanced offense presented problems for Panhandle State all night as the team shot 43% from the field. The Warriors faced a tough full-court press from buzzer to buzzer as well and yielded only 19 turnovers.
“This was an enormous win for our program,” stated Sanders. “We were able to hold OPSU to 20 percent shooting in the first half. Our focus during the last month has been getting better at defensive principles like keeping the ball out of the lane, contesting shots, and keeping the ball off the baseline. It is great to see the improvement.”
“The team continues to make things easier,”
said guard AJ Bordallo. “We have started
playing for each other.”
“We got incredible contributions from our bench tonight as well,” stated
Sanders. “Tobias Welling came in at the
five spot and gave us great productivity with nine points and six
rebounds. Cameron Bender gave us an
unbelievable lift offensively when he came in and stroked it like that. Tim
Marchbanks was about as solid as you could be for us defensively tonight. Drake and AJ gave us important minutes as
well.”
Next up, the Warriors will battle Union College on December 14 in Lincoln, NE.
Calvary was unable
to avenge the season’s earlier loss to the Comets losing 73-65 in Nevada,
MO.
The game was tight throughout the first quarter as both teams tried to establish themselves. Each squad struggled from the field in the opening quarter only making five field goals apiece. After one quarter, Cottey led 14-11.
In the second, both teams began to get into an offensive rhythm keeping the game competitive. The Warriors were able to tie the game twice and even grab a lead midway through the quarter. However, some turnovers at the end of the half proved costly, and CU headed to the locker room trailing 36-27.
Calvary had some trouble restarting the offense after the break and allowed the Comets to extend their lead to as many as 15. However, the Warriors didn’t let the game get away from them and were down 57-47 at the end of the third.
In the fourth, the teams traded baskets before Cottey again tried to pull away, but again were unable to get their lead past 15. The Warrior’s comeback efforts, in the end, came up short. With just under a minute to play Calvary cut the lead to six, but was unable to get any closer falling 73-65, a score nearly identical to the 71-65 loss earlier in the season to the Comets.
After the game head coach Tressa Shoemaker said that despite the loss she likes the direction that the team is headed.
Anna Holloway led the scoring for the Warriors with 15, followed closely by Taylor Hunter with 14. Shalom Sutcliffe added 13 and led the team with 7 rebounds.
Kelsey Acton scored a game-high 23 for the Comets.
With the loss Calvary moves to 5-6 on the season. Next, the Warriors head to Lincoln, NE on Saturday, to play Union College in their final game of 2019.
