ALBION, Mich. - The 11th-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team clinched the outright MIAA regular season championship with a 77-58 win at Albion in Saturday's regular season finale.
Calvin (21-4, 13-1 MIAA) had already clinched at least a share of the regular season title and the top seed in next week's MIAA Tournament, but a win over Albion (7-18, 4-10 MIAA) was still needed to secure sole possession of the crown.
The Knights were in control from the start as they pushed a lead into double figures on a
Marcus Bult (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Academy) lay-up with 9:21 to play in the first half and never led by less than 10 points the rest of the way.
Luka Ressler (Caldeonia, Mich./Catholic Central) helped the Knights to the strong start with 12 points in the first half, and finished the day with a career-high 20 points on a perfect 8-8 from the field, including 3-3 from beyond the three-point arc.
While the Calvin offense shot 50.0 percent from the field, the defense was tenacious as it forced 20 Albion turnovers that turned into 27 points on the other end. The Knights also held the Britons to 43.1 percent shooting on the night.
Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) added 15 points and seven rebounds, while Bult scored 12 points.
Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) scored nine points while adding four steals and one block on the defensive end.
COACH'S COMMENT: "Good road win," Calvin men's basketball head coach
Bill Sall said. "I really liked our tenacity in the first half.
Luka Ressler had a great game and was perfect from the floor. Uchenna played his usual stellar defense and we did a nice job of creating turnovers without turning it over against their pressure. It will be great for us to get a little break before we get geared up for the MIAA Tournament."
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball will return to action on Friday, February 24, when it hosts the semi-final round of the MIAA Tournament. The Knights will find out who their opponent will be following Wednesday's opening round match-up between the fourth and fifth seeds.
