The Calvin men's basketball team remained on top of the MIAA standings but not without a scare on Saturday afternoon as the Knights escaped Van Noord Arena with a 62-60 victory over Kalamazoo College. With the win, Calvin improves to 11-4 overall and to 4-0 in the MIAA, remaining one game ahead of 3-1 Adrian and Trine.

Kalamazoo (6-9 overall, 1-3 MIAA) had a chance to tie or take the lead in the final seconds but a two-point attempt was off the mark with two seconds remaining and Calvin's senior Jordan Brink was able to corral the rebound to ensure the win.

Calvin jumped out to a 25-14 first half lead but the Hornets came roaring back with a 20-6 run to close out the half to take a 34-31 lead into halftime.

Kalamazoo then kept the lead until the Knights tied it at 42 with 14:45 remaining then finally took the lead at 47-45 on a layin by junior Jordan Daley with 11:42 remaining. Calvin widened its advantage to five at 53-48 on a free throw by sophomore Brad Visser and to 55-5 on a pair charity tosses by senior Daniel Stout.

Free throws would prove to be Calvin's undoing in Saturday's contest however as the Knights were just 15-of-31 from the line, allowing Kalamazoo to remain in the game.
A free throw by Calvin senior Jordan Brink gave the Knights a 56-50 lead but the Kalamazoo answered with back-to-back buckets to close to within 56-54.

A triple by Kalamazoo put the Hornets within a point at 58-57 but Brink answered with a triple of his own to give Calvin a 61-57 advantage. Kalamazoo answered right back with a three-pointer with 1:13 remaining, setting up a frantic finish.

With 57 seconds remaining, Brink was able to sink a free throw to put the Knights up 62-60 but then missed his second attempt. The rebound deflected off a Kalamazoo defender however, giving the Knights the ball back.

Calvin then worked the ball around for a shot but misfired with 21 seconds remaining, allowing Kalamazoo to set up for a game-tying or potential go-ahead basket.

Calvin then buckled down on defense and forced the Hornets into an off-balance shot, allowing the Knights to close out the win.

"To Kalamazoo's credit they came out hard and went right after us," said Calvin men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek. "We did not have our 'A' game today but Kalamazoo deserves some of the credit for that. The difference for us is that we played much better defense in the second half and made a few big plays on offense to win the game. It was not our best effort by any means but at the same time, I don't want to take anything away from Kalamazoo. They played great."

Calvin was led in scoring by Brink who tallied 19 points while Daley had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Visser also tossed in 10 points off the bench while Austin Parks contributed eight.

Kalamazoo was led in scoring by Adam Dykema with 14 points while Josh Miller had 12 points.

Kalamazoo shot 42.9 percent from the field while Calvin shot 38.5 percent from the floor. Calvin was 7 of 28 (.250) from three-point range while Kalamazoo was 2 of 9 (.355).

Calvin will travel to Trine on Wednesday night for a 7:30 p.m. contest.