HOLLAND, Mich. – The Calvin University men's basketball team fought off Hope College down the stretch for a 65-60 win in the 214th playing of The Rivalry on Wednesday at DeVos Fieldhouse.
 
Calvin (10-6, 5-0 MIAA) had to fight from start to finish in a back-and-forth rivalry game that featured 16 lead changes, nine ties, and saw neither team ever lead by more than six points throughout the 40 minutes.
 
Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview/Ohio Dominican) helped the Knights to a strong start with seven points in the first nine minutes to push Calvin to an early five-point lead.
 
The Knights held onto that small lead for much of the opening half, but Hope (9-7, 4-1 MIAA) went into the locker room with momentum thanks to a buzzer-beating lay-up that gave the Flying Dutchmen a 35-34 halftime lead.
 
Hope started the second half on a 5-0 run to take a 40-34 lead, but the Knights responded with an 8-0 run of their own to wrestle the lead right back.
 
The lead ping-ponged back and forth between the two teams seven different times in the second half, with the Flying Dutchmen holding a one-point edge at 57-56 with 5:56 to play, but the Knights answered the bell one final time and made a big push on both ends to finish the game.
 
Over the final 5:56, the Knights held Hope to only one field goal and three total points while also turning its defense into offense with three big fast break baskets to seize control.
 
Calvin took the lead for the final time at 58-57 with just under four minutes to play on a fast break lay-up from Swartz, and then added three more points in transition off the next Hope possession on a three-point play by Owen Varnado (Muskegon, Mich./Western Michigan Christian) to push the lead to 61-57.
 
After the Flying Dutchmen cut the lead to 61-59, the Knights got one final stop in the final minute and put the game away with another fast break lay-up by Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) with 18 seconds remaining to secure the win.
 
Calvin finished the night shooting 45.3 percent from the field while holding the Flying Dutchmen to 39.3 percent, including 34.5 percent in the second half.
 
After getting outscored 22-12 in the paint in the first half, Calvin held a 20-12 advantage inside in the second half with Egekeze leading the charge with 12 points after the break.
 
Swartz finished with a season-high 19 points off the bench to lead the offense.
 
Varnado and Egekeze each finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds apiece.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "What a great win," Calvin head men's basketball coach Bill Sall said. "We really struggled to guard their dribble penetration most of the game, and I think down the stretch we did a little bit better job of plugging the holes. Parker Swartz was incredible tonight with 19 points. What a great time to have his season high and it was great to see him do some stuff. All the guys did really good things, but I thought Owen (Varnado) and Uchenna (Egekeze) played their tails off and really willed us to win."
 
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball returns to action on Saturday, January 25, when it hosts Alma College for a game scheduled to tip off at 3:00 PM at Van Noord Arena.