With 6:13 remaining and the Knights clinging to a two point lead, Tyler Zoerhof (Holland Christian) drew a charge as Silas drove to the hoop. With that, Silas, who had put up 24 points including 6 of 8 three pointers, picked up his fifth foul and was forced to the bench.
“It was a great defensive play by Zoerhoff,” Coach Vande Streek said. “He just stood in and held his ground. He didn’t try to make a great play with a slap at the ball, but instead took it right in the chest and it turned out to be a big play.”
Without Silas, Albion turned the ball over twice and had an easy lay-up blocked in the final minutes as Calvin escaped with a 78- 71 win at home Saturday afternoon.
In the first half, the Knights came out shooting as Caleb Veldhouse (Sioux Fall Christian) and Dustin Smith (Hamilton) drained back to back threes to put the Knights on an early first half run. But Silas showed he could answer in another great effort verse the Knights putting up 13 first half points and hitting 3 of 4 from behind the arc.
Calvin led by as many as nine in the first half after John Mantel (Chelsea) hit back-to-back turnaround jump shots to put Calvin up 16- 7.
But Silas would have help as Andrew Holtz and Jim Cash kept Albion in the game leading the Britons on a 6-0 run to close the gap to 18-17. After back to back Calvin turnovers a Cash tip-in gave Albion its first lead of the afternoon with 7:12 remaining in the first half.
As the lead switched back and forth with less than six minutes to play, Calvin attacked inside feeding Josh Meckes (Saginaw Valley Lutheran), while Silas continued to convert from behind the arc.
Albion shot 37.8% from the field in the first half, connecting on six of 14 three pointers. Calvin shot 40.6% from the field and 4 of 13 from the arc.
Albion’s baseline skip- passes gave its four guard rotation plenty of open looks in the first half, and on its first possession in the second half the Britons executed it perfectly again as D.J. Mocini hit a three from the corner to give Albion its largest lead of the afternoon at seven points.
“It’s really about team defense,” Vande Streek said. “When they baseline drive, we needed to attack that dribbler a little better to make the pass a little longer and to get our hands up a little higher. That allowed our weak side guy a little more time to get all the way out there [to defend the shot].”
Derek Griffin (Muskegon CC) converted back to back three point plays, but Silas, who was cash on two open looks from behind the arc, kept the Britons in front 55-49 early in the second half.
After a Kyle Snoeyink (Calvin Christian) jump shot and a Smith lay-up with less than ten minutes to play, the Britons turned the ball over. Veldhouse came out of the scramble for the lose ball and hit a pull up three to reclaim a 59-57 Knight’s lead.
Things got a little heated when with 7:20 remaining when an Albion player was whistled for a technical foul.
Albion had been leading, but Veldhouse was good on both technical free throws to give the Knights a 64-63 lead. After Silas fouled out, Veldhouse came right down the floor and hit from behind the arc to give Calvin a 70-65 lead with 5:58 remaining. The Knights would never trail again.
Calvin finished 8 of 27 from three point range and shot 36.8%. Calvin turned the ball over only 5 times, 0 times in the second half.
Veldhouse finished with 19 to lead the Knights. Griffin added 16 points and tied Eric De Vries (Unity Christian) for the team high of rebounds with 8. Smith and Meckes finished with 14 and 11 points respectively.
Silas led the Britons with 24 points, while Andrew Holms was second with 12 points. Albion was 11 of 25 from three point range and shot 37.1% from the field.
The Knights will host Kalamazoo Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.