ALBION, Mich. – The fourth-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team opened conference play with a gritty 78-69 win at Albion College on Thursday night.
Calvin (11-1, 1-0 MIAA) trailed at the half, but battled back in the second half with a strong defensive effort to win the MIAA opener.
Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) started strong down low for the Knights with 15 points on 7-9 shooting from the field in the opening half, but Albion (6-6, 0-1 MIAA) shot 64.0 percent overall and made all four attempts from beyond the three-point line to take a 37-34 lead into the break.
Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) finished the first half with a buzzer-beating three-pointer, and
Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) got the Knights going from the outside early in the second half with a pair of three-pointers.
Calvin still trailed 45-41 early in the second half, but turned the game around with an 18-4 run to take a 10-point lead (59-49) with under 10 minutes remaining.
Albion pushed back with a run of its own to cut the Calvin lead to 65-62, but Egekeze once again came up big with a pair of lay-ups to push the Knights back in front by six with under three minutes to play.
The Britons made one final push with a 4-0 run, but Ressler found Overway underneath the basket for a lay-up in the final minute, and the Knights made five of six free throw attempts down the stretch to put the game away.
Calvin finished the game shooting 52.7 percent from the field and held Albion to 36.7 percent in the second half, including just 1-6 from beyond the three-point arc.
Turnovers also proved to be a difference maker, with the Knights forcing 14 Britons' miscues and outscored Albion 17-6 in points off turnovers for the game.
Overway led all players with 24 points and 10 rebounds on the way to his sixth double-double of the season.
Egekeze came up big on both ends, finishing with 14 points to go with four steals and three blocks. Ressler scored 13 points to go with a team-best six assists.
COACH'S COMMENT: "Gritty win on the road," said Calvin head men's basketball coach
Bill Sall. "Albion gave us all we could handle. Much better second half defensively. Jalen carried the way offensively for us in the first half. Luke and Uchenna made some huge plays on both sides of the ball in the second half.
Brady Ewing (Petsokey, Mich./Petoskey) had some big minutes in the second half to propel us to a really good win."
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball will return to action in MIAA play when it hosts Kalamazoo College on Saturday, January 6. Tip off is scheduled for 3:00 PM.
