ALLIANCE, Ohio – The eighth-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team fell to ninth-ranked University of Mount Union (UMU) in a battle of top 10 teams to close out the M Club Classic hosted by UMU on Tuesday.
Calvin (8-3) was in control for much of the game, but two big runs from UMU (13-0) pushed the Purple Raiders to the win.
Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) helped the Knights gain control early in the game, making a three-pointer on the team's opening possession and scoring nine points in the first nine minutes to push the Knights to a 22-11 lead with 11:02 to play in the half.
Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview/Ohio Dominican) also had a big start with eight points and a pair of three-point field goals.
The Purple Raiders turned up the defensive effort from there, holding Calvin scoreless over the next six minutes until a
Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) three-pointer ended a 10-0 run with five minutes left in the half. Overway got back on track over the final minutes of the half with six more points to take the Knights into the locker room with a 33-28 advantage.
Overway finished the half with 15 points to go with five rebounds. The Knights shot 52.0 percent from the field and held UMU to 19.4 percent, but 10 Calvin turnovers gave the Purple Raiders life and UMU also outscored the Knights 11-3 from the free throw line to keep the Calvin lead at five.
Calvin pushed the lead to 44-35 over the first four minutes of the second half, but another long scoring drought for the Knights allowed the Purple Raiders to take control. Trailing by nine with 16 minutes to play, UMU held Calvin scoreless for eight minutes during a 20-0 run that gave the Purple Raiders a 55-44 lead before Overway finally ended the stretch with a three-pointer with under eight minutes left.
Still trailing 68-59 with under three minutes to play, the Knights found life from the outside with back-to-back three-pointers from Swartz and Ressler to cut the deficit to three at 68-65 with two minutes remaining. Ressler's three was his third in the final six minutes to keep Calvin alive.
UMU pushed its lead back to seven with a minute to play, but
Jordan Scott (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) rattled off five straight points thanks to a Purple Raider turnover to cut the deficit down to two at 72-70. That would be as close as the Knights would get, however, as UMU closed out the game with six straight free throws to help secure the win.
After shooting 19.4 percent in the first half, the Purple Raiders shot 57.7 percent in the second half. The Knights shot 48.1 percent from the field for the game and outscored UMU 36-21 from beyond the three-point arc, but could not overcome 19 turnovers that turned into 23 points on the other end for the Purple Raiders.
Overway led all players with 26 points and 11 rebounds while also dishing out a team-high four assists. Ressler finished with 15 points on 5-7 shooting from beyond the arc, while Scott and Swartz added 13 and 11 points, respectively.
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball returns to action on Wednesday, January 7, when it opens MIAA play with a home contest against Alma College at 7:30 PM at Van Noord Arena.
