The 217th edition of the Calvin-Hope men's basketball rivalry is set to tip off Saturday night in Holland, Michigan. Tipoff for the classic rivalry is set for 7 p.m. inside Hope's DeVos Fieldhouse. The game is a sellout.

BROADCAST COVERAGE - Saturday's game is being broadcast on Michigan Sports Radio (Michigansportsradio.com) and FM 96.1 The Game Radio (https://961thegame.iheart.com/) . The game will also be live streamed through the Hope YouTube channel and feature live statistics at: Calvin-Hope Men's Basketball Live Stats. 

ALL-TIME SERIES - Hope leads the all-time series 111-105 in a series that dates back to the 1920-21 season. A year ago the two rivals met three times with Calvin winning all three games in close fashion. The Knights took the opener 65-60 in Holland and then won 68-60 just 10 days later in Grand Rapids. In the MIAA Tournament Championship game, Calvin edged the Flying Dutchmen 62-59 at Calvin's Van Noord Arena for the 2025 MIAA Tournament crown. Over 216 games, Calvin has outscored Hope by just 1 point (14,637–14,436) which works out to a difference of just 0.004 points per game. Calvin head coach Bill Sall is in his seventh year as head coach. He is 7–8 against Hope. Hope head coach Greg Mitchell is 13–15 against the Knights. As a player at Calvin, Sall was 7–3 against Hope. As a player at Hope, Mitchell was 4–5 against Calvin.

CALVIN COACHES SHOW - Fans of Calvin basketball should mark their calendar for each Monday night in February.    Next month, starting February 2, Big E's restaurant on East Beltline is the home for "Inside Calvin Basketball" – a 30-minute program featuring men's coach Bill Sall plus coaches and players from the men's and women's basketball teams.  The show airs live on 96.1 The Game and Michigan Sports Radio.  Fans are welcome to join the live audience and enjoy the delicious menu items from Big E's.

THE CALVIN COACH-Bill Sall is in his seventh year as head coach of the Calvin men's basketball program. He has led Calvin to four straight 20-win campaigns at the helm of the Knights. A 1994 Calvin graduate, Sall is in his 24^th year as a head collegiate men's basketball coach with an overall career won-loss record of 363-295 heading into tonight. He was 177-148 in 11 seasons at Ferris State and 61-102 in six seasons at Northern Michigan. He is currently 125-45 at the helm of the Calvin men's basketball program. In his first year as Calvin men's basketball head coach, he led the Knights to an overall record of 15-11 including a second-place finish in the MIAA and a trip to the MIAA Tournament semifinals. He followed with a second straight trip to the MIAA Tournament semis in 2021. In 2023, he led Calvin to an MIAA regular season championship and an overall record of 23-5. In 2022, he guided Calvin to a 22-9 record, a berth in the NCAA III Tournament and a trip to the Sweet 16 round of the national tournament. His 2023-24 team captured a share of the MIAA regular season title and advanced to the Elite 8 round of the NCAA III Tournament, finishing 25-5 overall. His 2024-25 team went 21-7 overall, winning MIAA regular season and MIAA Tournament crowns while reaching the NCAA III Tournament for the third time in four years. Sall is also a legendary Calvin men's basketball player. A two-time NABC Division III All-American and a two-time MIAA MVP, Sall ranks second on the Calvin career scoring list with 2,003 points. As a senior during the 1989-90 season, he led Calvin to an outright MIAA title and the school's first trip to the NCAA III Final Four.

National Ranking – Calvin enters Saturday's game ranked 15^th in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.  

OFFENSE/DEFENSE – Hope averages 75.63 points a game on offense while giving up 73.75 points a game on defense. The Flying Dutchmen are shooting 44.9 percent from the floor including 26.2 percent from three-point range. Hope is allowing opponents to shoot 44.8 percent from the floor and 34.1 percent from three-point range. Calvin averages 77.63 points a game on offense and is allowing 65.56 points a game on defense. Calvin is shooting 48.6 percent from the floor while limiting opponents to a 35.2 percent field goal shooting. Calvin is shooting 31.2 percent from three-point range with its opponents shooting 28.2 percent from beyond the long line.

MORE ON CALVIN - Calvin is led in scoring by senior center Jalen Overway.  He was named MIAA Player of the Week and to the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week this past Tuesday for his play in conference victories over Kalamazoo and Albion. Overway averages 22.7 points and 11.7 rebounds a game while connecting on 62.9 percent of his field goal attempts.  Senior forward Trevin Winkle averages 13.4 points and 6.7 rebounds a game. Senior guard Luka Ressler averages 9.7 points a game. Junior forward Parker Schwartz comes in at 8.6 points per contest.

Scouting the Opposition – Hope is led by head coach Greg Mitchell who is in his 12^th year as head coach of the Hope men's basketball program. He is 209-102 in his tenure as Hope head men's basketball coach. He previously served as head boys basketball coach at Laingsburg High School in the Lansing, Michigan. Area. He is a 1989 Hope graduate where he was a four-year member of the men's basketball program, playing on MIAA Championship team in 1987 and 1988. He is the Hope career three-point shooting percentage (.464) leader. Hope is led by junior forward Parker Hovey who averages 19.1 points and 7.9 rebounds a game while connecting on 54.6 percent of his field goal attempts. Freshman guard Brendan Cargill is next, averaging 12.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest. Senior guard Marcus Woerman averages 11.9 points and 2.9 rebounds a game with senior Justice Mims contributing 6.2 points and 3.0 rebounds a game.

LAST GAMES – Calvin saw its 24-game MIAA regular season win streak come to an end last Wednesday night as the Knights suffered an 88-68 loss at Trine. Calvin committed a season-high 21 turnovers in the loss. Trevin Winkle had 18 points in defeat while sophomore Justin McIlwain had a career-high 16 points. Jalen Overway had 15 points and Luka Ressler 12. Trine shot 51.8 percent from the floor including 72 percent in the second half as it pulled away after leading 32-28 at halftime. Hope picked up its fifth straight win on Wednesday, defeating Kalamazoo 74-66. Parker Hovey had 23 points with Brendan Cargill contributing 19 and Orion Yant 10.

MIAA Stat Lines – Five games into the MIAA schedule, Calvin (conference games only) is ranked second in the MIAA in scoring average (82.4 ppg) and fifth in defensive scoring average (71.6 ppg). Hope is ranked third in the MIAA in scoring offense (77.8 ppg) and second in defensive scoring average (70.2 ppg). Calvin's Jalen Overway leads the MIAA in scoring average (24.0 ppg) while Trevin Winkle is fifth (15.6 ppg). Hope's Parker Hovey is third in the MIAA in scoring average (21.2 ppg). Overway is third in the MIAA in rebounding (11.4 rpg) with Hovey fifth (8.0 rpg). Overway leads the MIAA in field goal percentage (.714) with Hovey fifth (.529). Calvin's Luka Ressler is third in the MIAA in assists-per-game (4.0) with Overway fifth (3.4). Hovey is seventh in assists-per-game (3.4). Ressler leads the MIAA in assists-to-turnover ratio (2.5) with Overway fifth (1.4) and Hovey seventh (0.8).  

JAMMING WITH JALEN – Calvin senior center Jalen Overway averages 22.7 points and 11.7 rebounds a game. He has 11 double-doubles this season including 40 in his career. He has 1,455 career points,  766 career rebounds and 79 career blocks heading into the weekend. He sits 12^th on the Calvin career scoring list and is 10 points from moving past Tom Snikkers into 11^th and 43 points away from moving past Jordan Brink into 10^th. He is tied with Kim Campbell for sixth on the Calvin career rebounding list and 11^th on the Calvin career blocked shots list. He is ranked fifth nationally in Division III this season in double-doubles (11), 11^th in field goal percentage (.629), eighth in field goals made (141), 11^th in rebounds per game (11.7) and 21^st in points per game (22.7).

UP NEXT - Calvin will host Olivet next Wednesday at Van Noord Arena at 7:30 p.m.