GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The 12th-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team won its home opener 85-70 against Colorado College on Saturday afternoon at Van Noord Arena.
 
Calvin (2-1) led for nearly the entire game (the final 37 minutes) thanks to a strong first half before holding off a Colorado College (1-1) comeback in the second half to finish off the win.
 
The Knights took control early thanks to a big start from Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian), who scored 20 points in the first half to push Calvin to a 45-27 lead at the break.
 
Overway was dominant in the opening 20 minutes, making seven of eight from the field and six of seven from the free throw line while also adding five rebounds, three assists and one block.
 
The Knights shot 62.5 percent from the field in the half while holding the Tigers to 28.6 percent.
 
Calvin held its lead into double figures for the first 14 minutes of the second half, but the Tigers would not go away and picked up the defensive full-court pressure and pace while Calvin's Trevin Winkle (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian) and Jordan Scott (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian) battled foul trouble with four fouls.
 
Colorado College cut the Knights' lead to seven (69-62) heading into the final media timeout of the game with under four minutes to play, but Calvin responded with a three-point play from Overway and a Winkle three-pointer in the next two possessions to push the lead back into double figures for good the rest of the way.
 
The Knights finished the game shooting 52.7 percent from the field with Overway scoring 30 points on 9-14 shooting and 12-16 shooting from the charity stripe to go with 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
 
Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) and Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview/Ohio Dominican) joined him in double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Ressler also led Calvin with six assists and three steals.
 
Zion Ruckard (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest/St. Thomas Aquinas) came was big for the Knights off the bench, scoring eight points in 28 minutes.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "Lot of work to do," Calvin head coach Bill Sall said. "I liked their energy today. I thought that was way better. I thought we rebounded way better. But still really disjointed yet. And credit to them (Colorado College) – they made it that way. So good stuff to build on, but we've still got to keep working on the things we can work on."
 
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball will return to action on Saturday, November 22, when it hosts UW-Stout in a game at Van Noord Arena scheduled to tip off at 3:00 PM.