CALVIN-HOPE MEN'S BASKETBALL SMUGMUG PHOTO GALLERY l NCAA STATS CALVIN-HOPE BOX SCORE

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The fourth-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team led from start to finish on the way to a 69-61 win over Hope College on Wednesday night at Van Noord Arena in the 211th playing of The Rivalry series.
 
Calvin (15-1, 5-0 MIAA) never trailed in the game as it opened with a 10-2 run and led by as many as 15 in the first half on the way to a 34-23 halftime lead.
 
Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) led the way for the Knights with 11 first-half points, while the Calvin defense held Hope (12-4, 4-1 MIAA) to 1-13 shooting from beyond the three-point arc and 28.1 percent shooting from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Knights continued to hold off the Flying Dutchmen early in the second half, but struggled to keep Hope off the free throw line as the Flying Dutchmen slowly ate into the Calvin lead.
 
Hope finally cut its deficit to single digits with 7:05 to play, and whittled it as low as four points several times in the final minutes thanks to 24 second-half free throw attempts, but Calvin consistently found the answer when it needed it to keep the Flying Dutchmen at bay.
 
Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) made a lay-up with four minutes to play to push the Knights back ahead by six (60-54), and Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./South Christian) made a corner three-pointer with 1:51 to play to push the Knights back in front by seven (63-56).
 
While both teams struggled from the free throw line for the game, the Knights stepped up in the final minutes as Overway, Jordan Scott (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) and Marcus Bult (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Academy) combined to go 6-6 from to close the game.
 
The Knights finished the night shooting 41.5 percent from the field while holding the Flying Dutchmen to 35.1 percent and just 2-22 from beyond the three-point arc.
 
Overway finished with a game-high 14 points to lead four Calvin players in double figures. He also recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 12 rebounds.
 
Bult added 13 points, while Scott and Owen Varnado (Muskegon, Mich./Western Michigan Christian) scored and 12 and 11 points, respectively.
 
The win was the 102nd all-time for the Knights against Hope in the storied history of The Rivalry.
 
Egekeze, who finished with eight points and eight rebounds, scored his 1,000th career point in the first half on a breakaway dunk.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "I was really happy with our defensive performance," Calvin head men's basketball coach Bill Sall said. "We've lacked a little bit of that coming into the new year, but man did we defend really, really well today. I was really happy with that performance. On the offensive side, Hope gave us everything that I knew they were going to. They're a gritty, hard-nosed team, but we had enough to get it done on that side.
 
"What an electric atmosphere," Sall continued. "Van Noord was rocking tonight. That's certainly the best I've ever seen it here since I've been coach here for five years, so credit to the fans and the students who really came out and did a great job."

 
NEXT UP: Calvin returns to action on Saturday, January 20, when the Knights host Alma College in a game scheduled to start at 3:00 PM.

*Feature Story on Uchenna Egekeze Reaching 1,000 Point Plateau
*WOOD-TV 8 Feature - Like Father/Like Son