CALVIN/TRINE SMUGMUG PHOTO GALLERY - 2-11-23

GRAND RAPIDS - The 13th-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team clinched at least a share of its first MIAA regular season championship since 2015 with a 67-56 win over number-21 Trine University on Saturday at Van Noord Arena.

The two teams entered the day ranked in the latest D3hoops.com top 25 poll and were separated by just one game in the league standings. Calvin (20-3, 12-0) was looking to back up its win at Trine (20-3, 10-2) in January to keep its lead atop the standings, while the Thunder were looking to earn the tie-breaker and the inside track to the number-one seed in the conference tournament. 

After a low-scoring outing in the first meeting between the two programs, the Knights came out firing to open the game on the way to a 37-27 halftime lead. The two teams went back and forth to start, but Calvin broke open a 20-20 game with seven minutes remaining in the half with a 16-0 run over the next five minutes.

Calvin shot 61.5 percent from the field in the first half and dominated inside, out-scoring the Thunder 28-6 in the paint with the help of 16 points from Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian). 

The Thunder opened the second half with a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to four (37-33), but Calvin answered with an 11-1 run to push the lead back into double figures. Trine hung around, but could not cut the Knights' lead inside of double figures again over the final 16:18 of the game.

Trine entered the game fourth in NCAA Division III in scoring defense, but the Knights shot 55.3 percent from the field and turned the ball over only 12 times in the game. Calvin finished with 19 assists on 26 field goals and out-scored the Thunder 40-18 in the paint for the game.

On defense, Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) put together another terrific effort with three blocks and two steals to go with his seven points. Trine shot 39.6 percent overall, and the Knights (who entered the day ranked eighth in NCAA Division III in scoring defense) held the Thunder to only six second-chance points for the game on seven offensive rebounds.

Overway led Calvin with 20 points and seven rebounds. Marcus Bult (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Academy) added 14 points (nine in the second half), while Owen Varnado (Muskegon, Mich./Western Michigan Christian) finished with 10 points for his fourth straight game in double figures off the bench.

COACH'S COMMENT: "Every time we play those guys (Trine), it's a battle," Calvin men's basketball head coach Bill Sall said. "They're always prepared and do amazing things. In the first half I was pretty happy with how we played. I liked our intensity and intent. Last time we played them we had 19 turnovers, but today we had 12 so that was much better. And I thought we did a good job of getting the ball into Jalen. I thought he had a great game today and read the double really well. Overall, I thought we made some amazing strides and it was good stuff from our guys."

NEXT UP: The Calvin University men's basketball team will return to action on Wednesday, February 15, when it hosts Hope College in a game scheduled to start at 7:30 PM.