WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. – The eighth-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team lost its first round match-up in the DIII Invitational Tournament to Augustana College (Ill.) 64-60 at Justagame Fieldhouse on Friday night.
Calvin (6-2) started strong and led by eight points at the half, but Augustana (5-4) outscored the Knights 44-32 in the second half to earn the come-from-behind win.
Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) helped the Knights to a good start, scoring nine of Calvin's first nine points to help push the Knights to a 28-20 halftime lead.
Calvin held the Vikings to only 27.6 percent shooting in the opening half while Overway paced the Knights with 14 points in the half.
The Knights pushed their lead to 11 points early in the second half at 39-28, but the Vikings made a 15-4 run over the next five minutes to tie the game at 43-43 with under 10 minutes to play.
The teams traded the lead back-and-forth over the next five minutes, with
Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview/Ohio Dominican) tying the game at 53-53 with 4:12 to play.
Augustana took the lead for the final team after the final under-four media timeout at 55-53 and held a one possession advantage into the final minute when guard Dom Rhoden hit a three-pointer from the corner to put the Vikings up four with 44 seconds to play.
Calvin was able to cut the deficit back to two with under 10 seconds to play, but the Vikings made two free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.
After shooting 44.4 percent in the first half, Calvin struggled on the offensive end in the second half, shooting 36.4 percent overall and making one of their 12 attempts from beyond the three-point arc. Augustana answered their first-half struggles by shooting 53.9 percent in the second half and going 5-11 from three-point range.
Overway led the Knights with 23 points to go with seven rebounds.
Trevin Winkle (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian) joined him in double figures with 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) finished with six assists to go with nine points.
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, December 20) when it plays Concordia University Wisconsin at 5:00 PM (CT) at Justagame Fieldhouse.
