ANGOLA, Ind. – The Calvin University men's basketball team finished off the first half of conference play with a 62-58 win at second-ranked Trine University on Wednesday.
 
The two teams entered the game 6-0 in conference play with first place at the midway point of the MIAA season on the line, and Calvin (12-6, 7-0 MIAA) came out firing to open the game.
 
The Knights pushed an early lead to 23-13 with eight minutes to play in the first half, but Trine (16-2, 6-1 MIAA) answered with an 11-0 run over the next two minutes to take a 24-23 lead.
 
Calvin answered right back, however, and closed the first half on an 11-3 run of its own to take a 34-27 lead into the break.
 
Trevin Winkle (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian) led the Knights with 14 points in the first half, while Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) and Owen Varnado (Muskegon, Mich./Western Michigan Christian) each scored eight points.
 
The second half started much like the first as the Knights pushed their lead to 41-29 in the opening minutes, but the defending NCAA III champions battled back and took a three-point lead at 52-49 with seven minutes remaining.
 
Much like their last road triumph at Hope College last week, however, the Knights found the answers down the stretch. With the score tied 54-54 after the under four-minute media timeout, Varnado gave the Knights a slim two point edge with a pair of free throws. The Thunder tied the game at 56-56 on their next possession, but Egekeze answered with a big three-pointer off a pass from Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview/Ohio Dominican) to give the Knights the lead for the final time.
 
With the Calvin lead cut to one heading into the final minute, Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) cashed in a jumper after an offensive rebound to push the lead to 61-58 with 32 seconds remaining, and the Knights got one last stop on the final Trine possession to secure the win.
 
Egekeze came up big in the second half for the Knights with 15 of his game-high 23 points after halftime. He also swiped four of his five steals after the break and finished the game shooting 9-13 from the field.
 
The Knights struggled with turnovers throughout the game with 20 miscues but made the most of their attempts from the field by shooting 48.9 percent overall and a scorching 53.3 percent (10-16) from beyond the arc.
 
On the defensive end, the Knights held Trine to 40.4 percent overall and 23.1 percent (3-13) from three-point range.
 
Winkle (16 points) and Varnado (13) joined Egekeze in double figures while also combining for 17 rebounds.
 
The win was the 11th straight for Calvin this season and also marked the third win over a ranked opponent. The Knights now have three wins over teams ranked in the top 12 of this week's D3hoops.com top 25 poll, including two road wins (at number-two Trine and number-10 UW-La Crosse).
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "Great team win," Calvin head men's basketball coach Bill Sall said. "Really proud of our team effort the entire night. Trine plays so relentless on defense that we struggled with turnovers tonight, but we never backed down and continued to persevere. Uchenna (Egekeze) had an amazing game tonight but had big contributions from Trevin (Winkle) and Owen (Varnado). Total team effort. Everyone did their job. Short rest before a huge rematch with Hope on Saturday."
 
NEXT UP: The Calvin men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday, February 1, when it hosts Hope College for the 215th playing of The Rivalry. The game is scheduled for a 3:00 PM tipoff at Van Noord Arena.