GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The 16th-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to defeat Albion College 80-77 on Saturday at Van Noord Arena.
 
Calvin (12-3, 4-0 MIAA) led for much of the first half, but Albion (8-7, 1-3 MIAA) took control of the game near the end of the first half and led for the first 15 minutes of the second half before the Knights closed strong to remain unbeaten in league play.
 
The Knights led by as many as six points early in the game, but the Britons chased them down and took a 36-33 lead into halftime thanks to 8-12 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. Albion's Mason Brodi made three of his four attempts from three-point range off the bench, while Kameron Mayes and Dwayne Ray each made two three-pointers as the Britons outscored the Knights 24-9 from distance on the way to the halftime edge.
 
Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) led the Knights with nine points in the opening half and Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) added six points.
 
The Britons raced out of the locker room with a 7-0 run to start the second half and push their lead to 43-33, and the Knights trailed for much of the half. Overway was critical for Calvin on the offensive end, keeping the Knights within striking distance with 23 second-half points on 8-9 shooting overall and making all seven of his attempts from the free throw line. Trevin Winkle (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian) also came up big in the second half after battling foul trouble in the first half, scoring 13 points and going 7-9 from the charity stripe.
 
Calvin still trailed by seven points at 68-61 with 6:46 to play before an 8-0 run gave the Knights a quick lead at 69-68 with 4:36 remaining. The Britons answered on the next possession to take a one-point lead, but Overway answered with eight straight points for Calvin to keep the Knights in the lead 77-74 with under 30 seconds to play. On the ensuing Albion possession, Ressler stripped the ball to force a critical turnover that resulted in two free throws from Winkle to extend the Calvin lead to 79-74.
 
The Britons made a late three-pointer and had one final chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but a long three-point attempt from Mayes missed its mark as the final buzzer sounded.
 
Overway scored 23 of his season-high 32 points in the second half and finished the game with 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks while recording his 11th double-double of the season and the 40th of his career.
 
For the second half, the Knights shot 57.7 percent from the field while holding the Britons to 45.5 percent and outscored Albion 17-7 at the free throw line. For the game, Calvin overcame a 36-9 disadvantage from three-point range by outscoring the Britons 25-13 at the foul line and 38-22 in the paint.
 
Winkle fought through early foul trouble to finish with 18 points (13 in the second half) while Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview/Ohio Dominican) added 12 points. Ressler and Winkle tied for the team lead with four assists apiece.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "That was a battle. That was some good old fashioned MIAA basketball," Calvin head coach Bill Sall said. "That's what you expect out of Albion. I thought they played great. They made some great shots today. It was 40 minutes of a battle. I thought at the beginning, the first couple punches they threw at us, we didn't really respond all that well. Even in that second half, they kept on coming at us. But I thought the execution down the stretch was really good. Overall, our guys battled. And Jalen, huge game right down the stretch and he did what we needed him to do."
 
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball will return to action on Wednesday, January 21, when it travels to Trine University for a game scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM.