CALVIN/ELMHURST MEN'S BASKETBALL PHOTO GALLERY - 3-1-24

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Oh. – No. 10 Calvin connected on 13 of 23 attempts from three-point range in pulling away for a 93-78 first round NCAA III Tournament victory over No. 17 Elmhurst Friday night on the campus of John Carroll University.

Calvin (23-4) advances to a second round game Saturday night at 8:20 p.m. (EST) against host John Carroll.

Calvin scored the first seven points of Friday night's game with Elmhurst (22-6) and pulled out to an early 9-2 lead. Calvin went 8-of-12 from three-point range in the first half, vaulting into a 48-33 halftime lead.

Sophomore Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./GR Catholic Central HS) had the hot first half hand for the Knights with 13 points. Elmhurst trailed just 30-24 with five minutes left in the first half but the Knights exploded for an 18-9 scoring run over the final five ignited by a steal and dunk by senior Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Il./Huntley HS and capped off by a buzzer-beating three at the halftime horn by junior Trip Riemersma (Zeeland, Mich./Zeeland East HS).

Calvin extended its lead to 21 points in the second half as sophomore Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian HS) began to get loose in the paint for the Knights.

Elmhurst made a late run, closing to within 10 at 86-76 with 1:50 remaining but got no closer as the Knights sealed the win with timely free throw shooting down the stretch.

Overway finished with a game-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting to go with eight rebounds. Ressler pumped in a career-high 21 points including a 3-for-3 showing from three-point range. Senior Marcus Bult (Wheaton, Il./Wheaton Academy) had 18 points including four three-point field goals while holding the fort against the second half full-court pressure defense employed by Elmhurst. Egekeze scored 14 points to go with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Sophomore Owen Varnado (Muskegon, Mich./Western Michigan Christian HS) had five points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Elmhurst was paced by senior John Ittounas with 21 points while graduate student Quinn Pemberton had 14 and senior Ocean Johnson 11.

Friday's game marked the fourth meeting between Calvin and Elmhurst in three years including the second in three years in the NCAA III Tournament. Elmhurst had beaten Calvin in the two prior meetings including a 79-77 victory in the 2022 Round of 16 of the NCAA III Tournament.

With his 24 points, Overway boosted his career total to 1,040 points, moving him into 25th place on the Calvin career scoring list. Egekeze boosted his career scoring total to 1,131 points, moving him into 18th place on the Calvin career scoring list.