HOLLAND, Mich. - The Calvin men's basketball team was dominant from start to finish in an 81-49 win at Hope in the 208th playing of The Rivalry on Wednesday at DeVos Fieldhouse. 

Calvin (11-3, 3-0 MIAA) took control early and never looked back, out-scoring the Flying Dutchmen 45-13 in an opening half that included a 20-0 run that spanned more than 10 minutes. The margin of victory was Calvin's largest in the series since a 93-60 win over Hope in 1977.

The game was tied 4-4 with 17:38 before the Knights took control by rattling off 20 straight points over the next 10:20 of game time. For the half, Hope (7-7, 1-2 MIAA) was held to its lowest ever point total for a single half at DeVos Fieldhouse.

Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley School) was dominant on both ends of the court from the start, playing all 20 minutes of the half and capping a 7-7 shooting performance with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give him 18 points to go with seven rebounds and two steals going into the break. 

The second half was more of the same, as the Knights never allowed the lead to get lower than 27 points en route to the most lopsided win in the rivalry since 1977.

The Calvin defense held Hope to 37.9 percent shooting for the game after it shot just 24.0 percent in the opening half. The Flying Dutch also missed each of its first 14 attempts from beyond the three-point arc before finishing 1-16 for the game.

The Knights never slowed down on the offensive end, either. After shooting 76.2 percent in the opening half, Calvin shot 56.0 percent in the second half and 65.2 percent for the game. The Knights also made six of nine attempts from beyond the arc for the game.

Egekeze finished with a game-high 23 points and made all nine of his attempts from the field. He also grabbed nine rebounds. 

Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) also made a big impact in his first ever game in The Rivalry, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Marcus Bult (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Academy) joined them in double figures with 10 points. Owen Varnado (Muskegon, Mich./Western Michigan Christian) led the Knights off the bench with eight points. 

COACH'S COMMENT: "I thought we did a great job setting the tone on the defensive end," Calvin head coach Bill Sall said. "There were a lot of possessions where they just never got a very good look. Obviously, Uchenna had a great first half scoring the way he did, but he also did a tremendous job defensively on (Evan) Thomas. A lot of guys did a great job. I think every guy we put in there just continued to maintain the defensive effort and I think that was the key tonight."

You can hear the full post game comments from Sall, Egekeze and Overway if you click on the video below:



NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball returns to action on Saturday, January 14, when it travels to Adrian for a game scheduled to start at 5:00 PM.