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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The 10th-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team took down the Falcons of Concordia University Wisconsin (CUW) by the final score of 73-65 on Friday night at Van Noord Arena.

Calvin (4-0) jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead, but a six-minute scoring drought allowed CUW (0-4) to build a 12-7 advantage around the mid-way point of the first half. 

The Knights overcame the early struggles to build a lead as big as nine in the first half, but some sloppy play late in the half allowed the Falcons to run off six straight points to cut their deficit to 32-29 at the break.

Owen Varnado (Muskegon, Mich./Western Michigan Christian), Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) and Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) each finished with eight points in the half to lead Calvin, while the Falcons did a good job in the open court with 10 fast-break points to stay within striking distance.

Calvin remained in the lead in the early going out of the locker room, and after pushing its advantage to into double figures, pushed the lead to 16 (55-39) with 10:16 to play after five straight points off the bench from Jordan Scott (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy). 

The Knights led by at least eight points the rest of the way and pushed its advantage as high as 17 down the stretch on the way to the win.

The Falcons battled the Knights in most of the statistical categories, but Calvin's depth came up big on the night with a 23-6 advantage overall. Scott led the bench scorers with seven points, while Daane Harvey (Ada, Mich./Forest Hills Eastern) and Trip Riemersma (Holland, Mich./Zeeland East/SVSU) combined for 11 points. 

Varnado led the Knights for the game with 16 points, making five of his 10 attempts overall and going 4-8 from beyond the three-point arc. He also added four steals defensively.

Overway joined him in double figures with 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Egekeze finished with nine points, six assists and three steals. 

NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball returns to action tomorrow (Saturday, November 25) when it hosts Wilmington in a game scheduled to tip off at 2:00 PM.