Calvin closed out its season with a hard-fought 65-61 loss to rival Hope Saturday afternoon at Van Noord Arena.  

Calvin (10-15 overall, 5-9 MIAA) jumped out to a 13-7 lead in the opening moments of the game but Hope used a 7-0 run over the final 1:33 of the first half to build a 37-30 lead at the break.

Ranked sixth nationally, Hope (23-2 overall, 13-1 MIAA) built a nine-point lead in the opening moments of the second half before the Knights began to chip back into the deficit.

Calvin closed to within two at 43-41 on a three-pointer by junior Mike Siegel at the 13:54 mark and then crept to within a point on a three-point play by senior Jordan Daley that made the score 47-46 with 8:49 left.

Hope bumped its lead up to 54-47 with 5:36 to go on a triple by Chad Carlson but Daley scored four straight points to bring Calvin within three ast 54-51.

Inside the final minute of play, senior Austin Parks swished a triple that brought Calvin within four at 61-57. A pair of free throws by junior Cam Denney chipped the deficit down to three ast 62-59 with 13 ticks left on the clock but Hope responded with three free throws in the final 11 seconds including a pair of clutch tosses by junior Harrison Blackledge with 6.6 seconds left that sealed the win for Hope.

Calvin was led in scoring by Daley with 20 points while Denney had 14 and sophomore Tony Canonie 10. Hope received 11 points and 12 boards from senior Brock Benson while Blackledge had 11 points and sophomre Dante Hawkins 10.

Hope outrebounded Calvin 36-32, marking just the time that Calvin has been outrebounded this year. Free throw shooting also hurt the Knights as they connected on just 13 of 23 (.565) at the charity stripe.

With the victory, Hope wrapped up the outright MIAA regular season title, finishing one game ahead of Alma.

"I thought we played really hard this afternoon, we just aren't quite there," said Calvin men's basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek. "I want to give credit to Hope as well. They have a very good team and are deserving (league) champions."

With the loss, Daley and Parks complete their Calvin careers. Daley finished his four-year run with 1,067 points, good for 20th on the Calvin career scoring list. "I've been blessed to coach both of them," said Vande Streek of his senior co-captains. "I've been blessed to coach this team this year too. The results may not have always shown it but this has been a great group of guys to coach."

Saturday's game marked the 193rd meeting between the two rivals. Hope now leads the all-time series 100-93.