GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin men's basketball team held off Trine in the final possession of the game to win with a final score of 55-54 on Saturday afternoon. 

The Knights got the shooting going early as they jumped out to 7-0 lead after a made jumper by senior Thad Shymanski (Ada, MI / Grand Rapids Christian). A 3-pointer by sophomore Marcus Bult (Wheaton, IL / Wheaton Academy) and a jump shot by senior Thad Shymanski (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) helped push Calvin's lead to 15-0 as Trine was struggling to get anything going offensively. 

The Knights played great defensively as the Thunder didn't score their first points until 8:17 left in the first half. Calvin was still holding a steady lead over Trine and after a made jumper by Luke Morrison (Bristol, IN / Northridge), the Knights were leading 21-9. 

The Thunder battled right back into the game as they closed out the half on a 13-5 run to close the gap to just four with the Knights leading 26-22 into halftime. 

Morrison led the way in scoring for Calvin with 10 points heading into halftime. The Knights shot 11-22 (52.4%) from the field and 4-12 (33.3%) from the three-point line in the first half.

Calvin outrebounded Trine 18-8 on the glass and finished with a total of nine assists in the half. 

Trine had the momentum at the end of the first half and used it to quickly grab a 29-28 lead over Calvin. The Knights answered right back with a quick 6-0 run after a made free throw by junior Eli Sensenig (Grayslake, IL / Westlake Christian Academy) to take a 34-29 lead. 

A driving layup by Alec Fruin (Beloit, WI / Turner) gave the Knights a 40-35 lead over the Thunder with 9:37 left to go in the game. Calvin was still maintaining its lead over Trine, and after a nice no look pass from Morrison to Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, IL / Huntley) for the layup, it led 51-43 with 4:51 left. 

Trine wasn't going away as it went on a 6-0 run to make it a 51-49 game with 2:47 remaining in the game. Morrison made a huge 3-pointer for the Knights as they took a 55-50 advantage with 1:36 to go in the game. 

The game came down to the wire as the Trine was able to make it a one-point game with a score of 55-54. The Thunder had the last shot with 3.2 seconds left, but the Knights played excellent defense, contesting two shots in the final seconds that were off the mark. The last-stand stop allowed Calvin to secure the win. 

Calvin improves to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in the MIAA. 

Morrison led the Knights in scoring with 19 points while Bult and Sensenig each scored 9 points on the afternoon. Calvin shot 19-42 (45.2%) and 6-23 (26.1%) from the three-point line. The Knights dominated the glass as they outrebounded Trine 37-19 and finished with 14 total assists. 

COACHES COMMENTS: "That was a battle and good old-fashioned MIAA basketball," said head coach Bill Sall. "We competed really hard I thought, and Trine is so good defensively and credit to them. I'm really happy with our tenacity and I thought Eli (Sensenig) had some huge moments for us today as well. Our defensive energy was really good today and we really got them out of rhythm." 

UP NEXT: The Knights will host Olivet on Wednesday January 26 at 7:30 p.m.