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GRAND RAPIDS - The Calvin University men's basketball team built a big first half lead and held off a second-half charge from the Regents of Rockford University in a 76-68 win on Friday night at Van Noord Arena.

Both teams were a bit sluggish offensively at the start, but Calvin (6-0) broke the game open with a 13-0 run in the final minutes of the first half to take a 47-29 lead over Rockford (3-1) into halftime.

Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) was the catalyst on offense for the Knights with 13 points in the first half, while Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) added 11 points and two steals.

After shooting just 3-10 from beyond the three-point arc in the first half, the Regents were on fire from distance to start the second half, making six of their first seven attempts as they cut their halftime deficit to two (57-55) with 10 minutes to play.

The Knights answered and never lost their hold of the lead, pushing the advantage back as high as eight heading into the final minutes. Still leading 71-68 as the final minute approached, Marcus Bult (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Academy) put the game away with a clutch three-pointer off a pass from Egekeze with 1:02 remaining on the clock to help secure the win.

Calvin finished the game shooting 47.7 percent from the field, led by a 10-17 shooting performance from Overway as he scored a game-high 21 points. Overway and the Knights out-scored the Regents 44-24 in the paint, while Rockford out-scored the Knights 36-21 from beyond the arc.

Egekeze added 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Bult scored 14 points, while Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) added 13 points and seven rebounds in 24 critical minutes off the bench. 

Overway led all players with 10 rebounds, giving him five double-doubles in his first six career games.

COACH'S COMMENT: "Give a ton of credit to Rockford. They played exceptionally hard and played really well," Calvin head men's basketball coach Bill Sall said. "For a lot of the game we were a step slow. But we also had some moments tonight. This first game back from Thanksgiving break is often an adventure. We were a little out of sync, but down the stretch we made some plays and got a couple stops. I thought Luka Ressler was really, really good. That was a spark plug we needed. But overwall, we're still looking to figure out a few things that we haven't quite figured out yet."

NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball returns to Van Noord Arena tomorrow (Saturday, November 26) to host UW-Stevens Point for a game scheduled to tip off at 3:00 PM.