Box Score GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Calvin used stellar defense and hot first half shooting to roll to a 75-57 victory over seventh-ranked Elmhurst Wednesday night inside Van Noord Arena.
The win was Calvin's first over a D3hoops.com Top 25 opponent since 2017 and its first over a top-10 (D3hoops.com) opponent since 2014 when the Knights defeated (then) No. 2 Washington University of St. Louis in a second round NCAA III Tournament game.
The Knights broke open a tight game with an 11-0 run midway through the first half to build a 21-7 lead.
Calvin continued to keep its foot on the pedal, bumping its lead up to 31-13.
Calvin shot 63.3 percent from the field in the first half to bolt out to a 51-34 halftime lead.
The Knights were 9-of-16 (.563) from beyond the three-point arc in the opening 20 minutes.
Elmhurst got no closer than 15 points in the second half as the Knights closed out the win.
Seniors Thad Shymanski (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) and Luke Morrison (Bristol, Ind./Northridge HS) paced the Calvin attack with 22 points apiece. Sophomore Marcus Bult (Wheaton, Il./Wheaton Academy) had a career-high 11 points.
Calvin shot 47.3 percent from the field overall and held a 44-36 rebounding advantage. On defense, the Knights limited the visiting Bluejays (6-1) to 30.8 percent field goal shooting.
With his 22 points, Shymanski achieved a career milestone, becoming the 27th player in Calvin men's basketball history to eclipse the 1,000 point plateau for a career. Shymanski now has 1,001 career points after Wednesday's win.
COACHES COMMENT: "I thought our defensive effort was really good," said Calvin head men's basketball coach Bill Sall. "We had no signs of (defensive) slippage from anyone who was in the game tonight and that's not easy to do. We just battled on every possession. It was just an all-around solid 40 minutes of basketball tonight for the guys."
COACHES COMMENT ON SHYMANSKI MILESTONE: "Thad is such an awesome young man who is a pleasure to coach," said Sall. "When he was talking about coming back for a fifth year and attending graduate school we talked about leaving a legacy and tonight he added to that. So frequently he is a positive, calming influence on our team and I am so happy that he came back for another year with us."
NEXT UP: Calvin will host William Woods University in an exhibition game on December 10 at Van Noord Arena at 7:30 p.m.
