ADRIAN, Mich. – Calvin stretched its win streak to 14 games and remained on top of the MIAA standings with a convincing 92-55 victory at Adrian Saturday afternoon.
Calvin led 52-18 at halftime and never looked back as it connected on 11 of 23 (.478) from three-point range in coasting to the road win.
In its first meeting with Adrian, played back on January 15 at Van Noord Arena, Calvin started in sluggish fashion, trailing 17-5 before ultimately pulling away for a 73-43 win.
Calvin made no mistake out of the starting blocks on Saturday however as it raced out to a 14-2 lead in the opening five minutes with junior
Owen Varnado (Muskegon, Mich./Western Michigan Christian HS) scoring eight early points and graduate student
Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Il./Huntley HS) four. The lead quickly ballooned as the Knight drained six first half triples with sophomore Parker Schwartz (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview HS) catching fire as he finished with 16 first half points. Varnado also tossed in 16 first half points with Egekeze adding 11 points in the opening 20 minutes.
Calvin (15-6 overall, 10-0 MIAA) continued to push the tempo in the second half as graduate student
Ty Horky got loose for 11 second half points including a pair of triples. Graduate student
James Felton (Lansing, Mich./Lansing Christian HS) saw his first varsity minutes since a December injury and contributed four points off the bench including a turnaround dunk off an offensive rebound.
Swartz pumped in a career-high 22 points in just 23 minutes of action as he was 7 of 12 from the field including 4 of 8 from three-point range. Swartz also grabbed six rebounds. Varnado had 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and one blocked shot. Egekeze had 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists as well as one block and one steal. Horky finished with 13 points. Senior
Daane Harvey (Ada, Mich./Forest Hills Northern HS) had six points off a pair of three-point baskets.
Calvin shot 54.0 percent overall and held a 44-39 rebounding advantage.
COACHES COMMENT: "Good road win," said Calvin head men's basketball coach
Bill Sall. "We have had some incredibly tough games against Adrian in the past, particularly at their place. It was great to see our guys come with focus and energy today. I thought our defensive pressure and pace of play really helped us get out to a great start. We shot the ball well today but we got great shots because of our pace (of play)."
NEXT UP: Calvin will travel to Olivet next Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. contest.