photo by nathan vanderklippe Sophomore Jeremy Veenstra displays the mood of the team as they head into the MIAA Tournament this weekend. The Knights will take on the Comets of Olivet tonight at 8:15 p.m. at the Calvin Fieldhouse.

To look at the number of games remaining on the men’s basketball docket, one might think that their season is winding down and drawing to a close. But although the season is in its final leg, it is anything but winding down. The games that remain are perhaps the biggest, toughest and most important of the year. Each game serves as a sudden-death match, and the teams are but obstacles to be overcome on the road to an MIAA Tournament Champ-ionship and an NCAA Division III Championship.

“From a coaching standpoint, defense and rebounding need to be consistent,” said Head Coach Kevin Vande Streek about the elements needed to have a successful season.

However, Vande Streek admits that in post-season play, the emphasis is elsewhere. When the remainder of your season hangs on the final score of one game, “[it] comes down to how well you shoot.”

The Knights are currently sitting atop the MIAA bracket with a league record of 10 wins and two losses and an overall record of 20-4. This has earned Calvin a bye in the first round of MIAA Tournament that was played on Wednesday night and home court advantage for the remainder of the tournament.

Wednesday night’s competition saw second-seeded Hope, just two games behind Calvin in league at 8-4 (15-9 overall), defeat seventh-seeded Alma who were 3-9 in league, and 8-16 overall with a score of 84-70.

Number six Adrian (4-8 league and 12-12 overall) beat number three Albion (7-5 in league and 16-8 overall), 73-71 in overtime.

Calvin took a special interest in the face off between fourth-seeded Olivet (6-6 league, 11-11 overall) and fifth-seeded Kalamazoo (4-8 league, 9-15 overall), as they are to face the winner Friday night at the Fieldhouse.

In picking a desired competitor for tonight’s game, Vande Streek said that both teams would present quite difficult, yet different problems for Calvin.

“Olivet is the most athletic team in the league. Kalamazoo is very physical, very aggressive, and they will play very patiently,” he said.

As fate would have it, Olivet defeated Kalamazoo, 95-81.

In the contest against Olivet, the Knights will have to keep a sharp eye on senior center Bruce Lawrence, senior forward Brian Johnson and senior guard Ajamin Gardner who will each prove to be a strong weapon against Calvin.

Friday’s semi-final competition will pit Hope against Adrian at 6:00 p.m. and Calvin against Olivet at 8:00 p.m. The winner of each game will then meet on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. to battle it out for the MIAA title and an automatic advancement into the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The most exciting prospect of the tournament is the possibility that Calvin and Hope could meet for their third time this year in the Final MIAA Tournament Championship game.

If Calvin defeats Olivet and Hope defeats Adrian tonight, the rival Knights and Flying Dutchmen would meet in what would be the most intense competition of the year.

The Knights have their sights set first on winning the MIAA Tournament, but Vande Streek said that returning to Salem for the NCAA D-III National Title is a goal for the team.

“The reason we talk about [Salem] now is because I believe the conference tourney needs to be treated like the NCAA tourney. If we loose, our season’s over.” But if Calvin wins, there is no telling how far they’ll go.

Regardless of which teams meet in which tournament, Vande Streek testifies to the excitement surrounding this aspect of basketball.

“Tournament time, whether in high school or college or the NBA, is an exciting time.”