PLATTEVILLE, Wisc. - Calvin Men's Basketball claimed its first NCAA Tournament win since 2015 by taking down No. 24 Saint John's (Mn.) with a final score of 77-71 on Friday evening. 

Calvin will face fifth-ranked Wisconsin-Platteville in a second round NCAA III Tournament game Saturday night at 7 p.m. (CST). Host UW-Platteville defeated Marian (Wisc.) 76-59 in Friday's second first round game. 

In their win over Saint John's, the Knights started out in a close one against the Johnnies and only trailed by two points after a layup by senior Alec Fruin (Beloit, WI / Turner) to tie it at 12-12.  Saint John's had a slight lead over Calvin as it trailed 20-18 with 9:15 left after a 3-pointer by senior Thad Shymanski (Ada, MI / Grand Rapids Christian).  

Calvin quickly came right back to take a 23-22 lead after a made free throw by junior Eli Sensenig with five minutes left in the first half. It was a battle down the stretch of the first half as Fruin tied the game at 28-28 with 2:04 to go in the half. 

Both teams picked things up on defense in the last two minutes as both sides went scoreless, and the game headed into halftime tied at 28-28. 

Fruin led the Knights in scoring at the half with 8 points followed by sophomores Marcus Bult (Wheaton, IL / Wheaton Academy) and Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, IL / Huntley) each with 6 points. Calvin shot 9-26 (34.6%) from the field and 4-14 (28.6%) from the three-point line. 

The Knights came out shooting out the half and gained a slight advantage of 40-36 after a 3-pointer by Luke Morrison (Bristol, In / Northridge). Saint John's was still hanging around and finding ways to keep the game close as the score was 51-49 with 9:56 left in the game. 

Calvin responded by rattling off a 7-0 run to push its lead to 58-50 after a driving layup by Fruin with 8:24 left to go. The Johnnies weren't going anywhere and made it a two-point game with a score of 60-58 as the game entered its final stretch. 

Calvin took a 66-60 lead after two made free throws by Shymanski. Saint John's cut the lead down to three however after a deep 3-pointer to make it 71-68 with 33 seconds left. The Knights continued to make clutch free throw in the final thirty seconds and held on to win 77-71. 

Morrison led all Knights in scoring with 22 points followed by Shymanski with 15 points and 3 assists. Egekeze was also in double digit scoring with 13 points and Fruin as well with 11 points. 

Calvin shot 23-51 (45.1%) from the field and 7-20 (35%) from the three-point line. 

COACHES COMMENTS: "It was a hard-fought game as Saint John's came to fight and so did we," said head coach Bill Sall. "The first half they gave us all we could handle and our players really. stepped up in the second half. I think down to the last five minutes it was anyone's game, but we had that last small burst at the end to give us a lead and go from there. It was great and credit to Saint John's. They are a great program and are very well-coached. This is what you expect from an NCAA Tournament game." 

UP NEXT:  The Knights will be back in action tomorrow night taking on Marian or Wisconsin-Platteville with tipoff set for 7 p.m. (CST).