ANGOLA, Ind. - The second-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team suffered its first defeat of the season by the score of 78-56 to 24th-ranked UW-Platteville on Friday on day one of the Trine University Saint Andrews Products Classic.

Calvin (9-1) started strong, opening a 20-14 lead near the midway point of the first half, but went cold from the field offensively with only three field goals in the final 10:30 as UW-Platteville (9-1) took a 29-27 lead at the break.

Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) led all players at the half with 10 points, but the Knights shot 31.0 percent from the field compared to 54.5 percent for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers continued their run out of the locker room, pushing their lead to 12 (45-33) with a 14-4 run to start the half. The Knights battled to stay in the game, but each attempt was met with a strong answer from UW-Platteville, which pulled away down the stretch to secure the win.

Outside shooting proved to be the difference in the game, as Calvin could not make the Pioneers pay for packing the paint against Overway and the Knights' attempted drives inside. Calvin started the game 4-8 from beyond the three-point arc but missed its next 16 attempts from distance before Owen Varnado (Muskegon, Mich./Western Michigan Christian) finally broke the cold spell in the final minutes. 

On the other end, the Pioneers were 0-4 from deep in the first half but shot 8-14 in the second half to finish the game at 44.4 percent. 

Offensively, the Knights were held to 33.3 percent shooting, their lowest total of the season (previous low was 41.3 percent against UW-La Crosse), while the Pioneers finished at 53.6 percent overall.

Overway led the Knights with 20 points to go with six rebounds in defeat. Varnado joined him in double figures with 10 points. 

NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball returns to action at the Trine University Saint Andrews Products Classic when it faces Berry (Ga.) tomorrow (Saturday, December 30) in a game scheduled to tip off at 1:00 PM.