GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The eighth-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team defeated Kuyper University 79-56 in the final home contest of the 2025 calendar year at Van Noord Arena on Friday night.
Calvin (6-1) never trailed in the game, taking its first lead 16 seconds into the contest on lay-up from
Trevin Winkle (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian) and led by as many as 30 points despite shooting 38.2 percent from the field.
The Knights started strong against Kuyper (5-8), building a 13-3 lead in the opening six minutes, but the Cougars hung around until a strong close to the first half helped the Knights head into the locker room with a 42-25 lead at the break.
Winkle and
Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) led the Knights with seven points apiece in the opening half, with Overway also adding seven rebounds and four assists against the Cougars' match-up zone defense that held the Knights to 2-11 from beyond the three-point arc in the first 20 minutes.
Overway took the game over to start the second half, scoring the Knights' first eight points and 16 of Calvin's first 18 points in the first eight minutes of the half to help Calvin extend its lead to 64-34 with 11:40 to play.
The Knights were able to empty the bench over the final 10 minutes of play, as
Michael DeKuiper (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists while
Jaydon Keefer (Ann Arbor, Mich./Ann Arbor Huron) led that group with five points to go with three rebounds and two steals.
Calvin struggled from the outside throughout the night but outscored the Cougars 52-22 in the paint and dominated the glass to the tune of a 56-37 rebounding edge, including 22 offensive rebounds that led to 22 second-chance points.
Overway led Calvin on the night with 23 points, 15 rebounds and four assists in only 23 minutes of action. Winkle joined him in double figures with 11 points and tied
Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) for the team lead with three steals.
COACH'S COMMENT: "I thought in that first half we played a little lackadaisical," Calvin head coach
Bill Sall said. "I think Kuyper did a great job making us pay for it a little bit. It was a struggle from three tonight. Hopefully we can get some of those out of the way because we had a lot of good shots from good shooters and we just couldn't buy one. Hopefully we take that ship and right it a little bit. We're going to make some shots as we go down through the year. Second half I was pretty happy. Responded pretty well from halftime. Made a pretty good run and were a little more active on the glass."
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball will return to action on Friday, December 19, when it travels to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, to face Augustana College in a game scheduled to tip off at 8:00 PM at Justagame Fieldhouse.
