ALMA, Mich. – The Calvin University men's basketball team overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to win 74-52 at Alma College on Wednesday.
 
Calvin (14-6, 9-0 MIAA) opened the game with 12-3 lead, but Alma (0-20, 0-9 MIAA) answered with an 11-2 run to tie the game, and then closed the half on a 15-4 run over the final seven minutes to take a 32-23 halftime lead.
 
The Knights struggled on the offensive end after the hot start, shooting 22.2 percent overall and 1-15 from beyond the three-point arc while committing 12 first-half turnovers. The Scots countered from deep, shooting 7-13 from three-point range to take the nine-point halftime edge.
 
Calvin would answer the bell in the second half, however, with a 13-2 run over the first five minutes to take back the lead. The Scots remained in striking distance with a four-point deficit with 11:04 play at 45-41, but Calvin was able to put the game away with a 16-0 run over the next six minutes.
 
The Knights held the Scots in single digits for nearly 15 minutes to start the second half and forced Alma to shoot 35.0 percent overall and 11.1 percent (1-9) from three-point range while committing seven turnovers in the second half.
 
Owen Varnado (Muskegon, Mich./Western Michigan Christian) led the way on offense with 18 of his game-high 26 points after the break, while Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) added 14 points and three steals in the second half.
 
On offense, the Knights shot 59.3 percent after the break and converted 16 of 19 attempts from the free throw line.
 
Along with his 26 points, Varnado grabbed 17 rebounds and finished the day 14-15 from the charity stripe.
 
Egekeze finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five steals for Calvin, helping him set the new program record with 203 career steals. The previous mark of 202 was held by Chris Knoester (1990-94). Egekeze also moved into 10th place on the Calvin all-time scoring list with 1,666 career points as he passed Tom Snikkers' (2010-13) total of 1,464.
 
Also reaching a milestone in the game was Ty Horky (Manchester, Mich./Manchester/Kalamazoo College), who went over the 1,000 career point milestone with his five points in the game. Horky entered the day with 998 career points from his time at Kalamazoo College and Calvin, and reached the milestone on the Knights' lone three-point field goal in the first half.
 
The win was Calvin's 13th straight this season and pushed their lead in MIAA play to two games at 9-0.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "It is never easy to win an MIAA road game in February," Calvin head men's basketball coach Bill Sall said. "We certainly learned that in the first half. Give Alma credit. They played exceptionally hard and were able to make us very uncomfortable offensively. We had a great response in the second half. Uchenna (Egekeze) came out and set the tone defensively and the rest of the team responded. Owen (Varnado) had a very impressive game! He was just dominant in every part of the game."
 
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball will return to action on Saturday, February 8, when it travels to Adrian College for a 3:00 PM game. The men's game will be the second half of a doubleheader, with the Calvin women's basketball team also playing at Adrian at 1:00 PM.