(Photos courtesy over Avery Rosenblum, Trinity Student Assistant)

SAN ANTONIO, Tx. – The Calvin men's basketball team picked up a from-from-behind 76-74 overtime victory over Texas Lutheran University on day one of the Leslie Robinson Christmas Classic on the campus of Trinity University.

Calvin (6-2) trailed 36-28 at halftime but fought back with a strong second half effort and key plays in overtime to gain the win.

The Knights trailed for nearly the entire first half as Texas Lutheran (4-6) shot 56.5 percent (13 of 23) from the floor through the opening 20 minutes. Calvin trailed 28-26 with 4:05 left in the first half but Texas Lutheran closed out the half on an 8-2 run to roll into the halftime break with an eight-point lead.

Calvin used a 7-2 run out of intermission capped off by a three-pointer by senior Emmett Warners (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) to trail 38-35.

The game remained tight from that point on with the Knights fighting back to tie the game at 46 on a three-pointer from the right wing by senior Luke Morrison (Bristol, Ind./Northridge HS).

Calvin took its first lead of the game on another triple by Morrison – this coming with 7:46 left in regulation to bump the Knights into a 53-51 lead.

The lead then changed hands twice with the Knights retaking the lead at 57-55 on a three-pointer from the left wing by Warners with 5:17 left on the clock.

A pair of free throws by Morrison gave Calvin a 61-58 advantage with 3:26 remaining but the Knights offense went cold over the next three minutes. Texas Lutheran tied the game at 61 on a pair of free throws with 19 seconds remaining.

Out of a timeout, Calvin senior Thad Shymanski (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) was able to break free for a back door layup on a feed from Morrison to put the Knights up 63-61 with 6.8 seconds left. After a timeout, Texas Lutheran was able to quickly move the ball up the floor and convert on a game-tying layup with 1.5 seconds left, sending the contest into overtime.

In overtime, the lead changed hands five times with sophomore Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Il./Huntley HS) giving the Knights the lead for good at 71-70 on a putback with 1:20 remaining.

The Knights were able to hold onto the lead, converting five free throws inside the final 1:09 of play. Texas Lutheran had a chance to tie or take the lead but a contested layup with three seconds remaining by Xavier Phillips was off the mark, allowing the Knights to hold on for the win.

Morrison poured in 27 points on 9 of 14 shooting including 4 of 6 from three-point range to go with six rebounds and a pair of assists. Warners had 16 points including three field goals from beyond the three-point arc. Egekeze had 14 points and six boards while Shymanski had 13 points and three assists. Senior Jordan Katje (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo Christian HS) came up with a huge effort off the bench with a game-high 15 rebounds along with two blocked shots and two points.

Phillips led Texas Lutheran with 23 points off the bench, scoring 10 of his points in the five-minute overtime session. Sebastian Andrade had 21 points and Jamir Mason 19 to round out the Bulldog scoring attack.

Calvin held a commanding 43-26 rebounding advantage but committed a season-high 19 turnovers. The Knights converted 49.1 percent of their field goal attempts and just 56.7 percent (17 of 30) of their free throw attempts. Calvin was 7 of 17 from three-point range for a 41.2 percent clip.

COACHES COMMENT: "This was a tough, hard-fought game," said Calvin head men's basketball coach Bill Sall. "I thought we came out today and looked like we were still on vacation instead of being ready for a basketball game Credit to Texas Lutheran. They gave us all we could handle. I really loved our intensity down the stretch. We played with some grit. We have a huge test tomorrow against a very good Trinity team."

NEXT UP: Calvin will face host Trinity (9-2) at 2 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday.