CALVIN/GRACE CHRISTIAN MEN'S BASKETBALL SMUGMUG PHOTO GALLERY FOR 11-8-22

GRAND RAPIDS - The Calvin University men's basketball team opened the 2022-23 season with a 93-53 win over Grace Christian University (GCU) on Tuesday.

The Knights opened the game with a 14-0 run and never looked back as first-year center Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Calvin to a 56-23 halftime lead.

Overway was dominant in the first 20 minutes down low, shooting 8-13 from the field and making all four attempts from the free throw line as the Knights out-scored the Tigers 34-8 in the paint.

The second half was more of the same for the Knights, as they pushed their advantage as high as 47 points. With the Tigers focusing their defensive attention to Overway down low, it opened up shots on the outside as Calvin made seven of 12 attempts from beyond the arc in the second half. 

Overway finished as the game's leading scorer with 23 points to go with 15 rebounds in his college debut, while Uchenna Egekeze (Hutnley, Ill./Huntley) and Marcus Bult (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Academy) each added 10 points. 

The Knights received contributions from up and down the roster in the game, as 12 of the 13 players who played scored. 

Calvin was also strong on the defensive end, holding GCU to 32.8 percent shooting from the field while forcing 16 turnovers that turned into 21 points on the other end. 

The Knights improved to 1-0 on the season with the win. The Tigers fell to 1-1 in defeat.

COACH'S COMMENT: "I thought in the first half we played with some decent effort," Calvin head coach Bill Sall said. "We rebounded the ball pretty well and got it inside. Jalen Overway had a really nice first half. We got a little complacent at times in the second half, but that's hard to do with a young team to get them to stay at the same focus level for a full game."

NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball will return to action on Friday, November 11, when it hosts UW-Oshkosh at 5:00 PM in the Hoogenboom Gym. The Titans enter the season ranked number-three in the D3hoops Preseason Poll.