GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The 11th-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team put together a dominant performance in an 89-52 win over 17th-ranked UW-Oshkosh on Saturday at Van Noord Arena.
The game was decided in the first half when Calvin (5-1) turned an 11-7 deficit with 14:28 to play in the opening half into a 36-11 lead thanks to a 29-0 run that spanned more than 10 minutes while holding UW-Oshkosh (6-2) without a point.
The two teams were a clash in styles, with the Knights dominating the paint throughout the early season while the Titans played full court pressure and subbed five-man line-ups in nearly every 90 seconds throughout the game while shooting three-pointers at a high frequency throughout the early season.
From the start, Calvin was up to the task on the scouting report, sharing the ball to the tune of a season-best 25 assists and shooting 54.7 percent from the field while holding the Titans to 26.9 percent from the floor and 6-35 from beyond the three-point arc for the game.
The Knights finished the first half with a 46-20 lead and outshot Oshkosh from inside and out. Calvin outscored the Titans 20-8 in the paint, 9-1 from the free throw line, and went 5-12 from downtown compared to 3-18 for Oshkosh.
Trevin Winkle (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian) and
Jordan Scott (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) paced the Knights with 10 points apiece in the opening half, while
Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) orchestrated the offense through the pressure to record seven assists in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second half, Calvin extended its lead as high as 38 points, with Winkle capping the win with a pair of fast break dunks that sent the crowd into a frenzy, and never allowed its advantage to dip under 26 points as it cruised to the win.
Winkle finished the day with a team-best 15 points to lead five players in double figures. He also led the team with 12 rebounds and added three assists.
Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) was crowded on every catch down low but found shooters all day on the way to finishing with 14 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists while helping the Knights shoot a season-best 12-25 from beyond the arc.
Scott and
Zion Ruckard (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest/St. Thomas Aquinas) each finished with 13 points and combined to make five three-pointers.
Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview/Ohio Dominican) added 12 points, while Ressler finished with nine assists to go with his three points.
The Knights outscored the Titans 32-20 in the paint, 16-4 in fast break points, and 32-22 in bench points for the game.
COACH'S COMMENT: "I thought we did a good job all day of matching what they did," Calvin head coach
Bill Sall said. "We kind of mixed up the ball-screen coverages and that might have confused them a little bit. I was really concerned about their short roll, and I thought we did a great job at the beginning of the game of taking that away and still getting to the shooters. I thought our guys were so locked in defensively and just tremendous energy. And I was really happy with how well we rebounded."
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball will return to action on Friday, December 12, when it hosts Kuyper College as the second half of a Calvin basketball doubleheader at Van Noord Arena. That game will followed the Calvin women's basketball game against Albion College and is scheduled to tip off at 8:00 PM.
