GRAND RAPIDS - The 11th-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team saw its 12-game winning streak snapped in a 65-57 defeat to Hope College in the 209th playing of The Rivalry series on Wednesday at Van Noord Arena.

Calvin (20-4, 12-1 MIAA) entered the game unbeaten in conference play and clinched at least a share of the MIAA regular season championship on Saturday, February 8, and was also looking for the season sweep of the Flying Dutchmen after winning the first meeting between the two teams 81-49 on January 11 in Holland.

Hope (15-9, 9-4 MIAA) had other ideas, and made sure to avoid a repeat of the first meeting with an 8-0 run to start the game. The Knights battled back to tie the game 10-10, but could never get into a rhythm on the offensive end as they were held to 21.7 percent shooting on the way to a 26-22 halftime deficit.

Calvin started to get going offensively in the second half, shooting 43.6 percent from the field, but the Hope offense came alive as Clayton Dykhouse darted inside the paint and got to the free throw line 10 time as he scored 18 of his team-high 22 points in the second half. The Knights were able to cut the deficit to four inside the final minute, but that would be as close as they would get as Dykhouse helped put the game away for the Flying Dutchmen by going 6-6 from the charity stripe in the final 65 seconds.

Hope struggled from the outside, making just one of 17 attempts from beyond the three-point arc, but took a page from the Calvin playbook by dominating inside with a 40-20 advantage in the paint. 

Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) led Calvin with 22 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) saw double and triple teams throughout the night as the Flying Dutchmen swarmed him early and often in the post, but still finished in double figures with 12 points.

COACH'S COMMENT: "Give a lot of credit to Hope," Calvin men's basketball coach Bill Sall said. "I thought they really played hard. They had a really good defensive game plan. And we didn't do a good job of responding. I thought we were fortunate to only be down four at the half. In the second half, they only ended up getting four second-chance points, but they got 40 points in the paint for the game and we just allowed them to get downhill way too much. They did a good job of taking us out of our offense, and we - as coaches and players - just didn't do a good job of adjusting and doing what we had to do."

You can hear more postgame thoughts from Coach Sall, Overway and Egekeze if you click the video below:



NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball will close the regular season on the road when they play at Albion College on Saturday, February 18. Tip off for that game is scheduled for 5:30 PM.