CALVIN-KALAMAZOO - SMUGMUG PHOTO GALLERY

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The fourth-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team remained unbeaten in MIAA play with a 79-67 win over Kalamazoo College on Saturday at Van Noord Arena.

Calvin (12-1, 2-0 MIAA) struggled from the outside to start the game, missing its first 10 attempts from beyond the three-point arc, but dominated down low with a 22-10 advantage in points in the paint on the way to a 39-30 halftime lead.

Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) helped the Knights get going early in the game, scoring 11 first-half points on 5-6 shooting and making the lone Calvin three-pointer in the final seconds to push the lead to nine.

The Knights threatened to run away with the game early in the second half with a 10-2 run to push the lead to 49-32, but Kalamazoo (6-7, 0-2 MIAA) fought to stay in the game with timely three-point field goals. The Hornets also took advantage of the aggressive Calvin defense by getting to the free throw line 23 times in the second half and making 16 of them.

While Kalamazoo stayed within striking distance, the Hornets could never get their deficit below eight the rest of the way, as Marcus Bult (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Academy) came through with 18 big points in the second half to help secure the win.

Calvin held Kalamazoo to 34.0 percent from the field with the help of shutting off the paint on defense. The Knights finished with a 40-10 lead in points in the paint, and also out-rebounded the Hornets 48-30 for the game.

Bult led all players with 19 points to go with 12 rebounds and five assists for his third double-double of the season.

Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) added 15 points and two blocks, while Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) added 13 points and 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double this season. While Overway made just two free throws against the physical Hornets' defense, he drew 12 fouls and finished 9-14 from the charity stripe in the win.

COACH'S COMMENT: "It was sloppy, but I thought Kalamazoo did a good job of mucking it up for us, too," Calvin head men's basketball coach Bill Sall said. "We've hit some lulls (during this stretch). The big thing for us is that everybody that comes in here is coming for you. When you're the fourth-ranked team in the country, you're going to get everybody's best effort. And for us, we have to do a better job with some execution things. These games are really good for us to be able to get some film, talk about it and really work through some things that we need to be able to do. On a positive side, we didn't turn it over much and took care of the ball."

NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball returns to action on Wednesday, January 10, when it travels to Adrian College for a game scheduled to tip off at 7:30 PM.