By Mark DeHaan

The Calvin men's basketball team continued its home stretch to open up the season, hosting the Yellow Jackets of Waynesburg University on Friday evening for the second game of the Great Lakes Challenge. Ohio Wesleyan University defeated Alma College 82-67 in the first game of the night.

Using a balanced scoring attack, Calvin defeated Waynesburg 89-71 as six Knights scored in double-figures.

The Knights jumped out to a 6-0 advantage in the opening two minutes, a lead which was lost as the Yellow Jackets responded with six of their own to tie the game at 6-6.

Calvin responded with a 9-2 run, capped by a layup from sophomore Brad Visser, to take a 15-8 with 13:20 remaining in the first.

A fast-break basket by senior Jordan Brink then put the Knights up by double-digits at 23-13, forcing a Waynesburg timeout.

The Yellow Jackets fought their way back, but with 3:18 to go in the half, Brink hit a pair of free throws to put the Knights up 32-25 and to bring his career point total to 1000.

Again, Waynesburg began to reel in the Knights, and with time winding down in the first half, the Yellow Jackets hit a runner to cut their deficit to 41-37 at the break.

At the half, Brink had nine points while junior Austin Parks and freshman Connor VanderBrug each had eight. BJ Durham had 17 first half points for Waynesburg.

In the second half, the Yellow Jackets claimed the lead with 17:38 to go on a three-pointer by Durham. A Brink jumper and layup by senior Tyler Dykstra swayed the game back into Calvin's favor, and the Knights began to slowly pull away.

With 13:27 to go, a layup by VanderBrug gave Calvin a 57-51 lead.

A jumper by Brink minutes later put the Knights ahead 65-57.

Calvin reclaimed a double-digit advantage on a layup by junior Jordan Daley at 72-61.

With 5:32 to go, Waynesburg cut the deficit to 75-66, but the Yellow Jackets would come no closer as the Knights pulled away for an 89-71 victory.

Calvin shot 60% from the field, hitting 33-of-55 shots. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets were held to 27-of-70 shooting for 38.6%. The Knights out-rebounded Waynesburg 39-28.

Individually, Brink led Calvin with 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, while Daley added 18 points and five boards.

For the Yellow Jackets, Durham scored 30 points to pace the offense, while Jason Propst was the only other player in double-figures with 12 points.

"We're a little young. We were young last Saturday and we're going to be young tomorrow. We have a lot of things to learn," said head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "We got out-rebounded for about 30 minutes, and that's very disappointing, but the last 10 minutes were really good and it's great to come out with a win."

With the win, Calvin improves to 2-0 overall while Waynesburg falls to 0-3. The Knights play their second game of the Great Lakes Challenge on Saturday as they host Ohio Wesleyan at 3 p.m. Alma and Waynesburg will face off at 1 p.m. at Van Noord Arena.