GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The 18th-ranked Calvin University men's basketball team finished the first half of the conference season with a 76-69 defeat to The University of Olivet on Wednesday night at Van Noord Arena.
 
Olivet (9-9, 6-1 MIAA) started strong from the opening tip, making its first five shots on the way to a 13-2 lead just over three minutes into the game. Calvin (13-5, 5-2 MIAA) struggled from the field to start but Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) made eight early free throws and scored 10 of the Knights' first 12 points to cut the deficit to 16-12 with 13:20 remaining in the half.
 
The Comets' offense continued to press the issue, however, as junior guard Nathan Richardson made his first seven attempts from the field and scored 18 first-half points to help Olivet extend its lead as high as 20 points before taking a 46-28 lead into halftime.
 
Overway scored 16 points in the half but the Knights struggled against the Olivet zone defense to the tune of 26.9 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes while the Comets shot 59.3 percent overall and went 7-11 from beyond the three-point arc.
 
The Knight started strong to open the second half, with Zion Ruckard (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest/St. Thomas Aquinas) and Overway keying an 11-0 run to cut the Olivet lead down to four at 50-46 with 13:26 remaining in the game.
 
The Comets answered with six straight points to push the lead back into double figures and held that lead until the final minutes when the Knights made one final push. Trailing by as many as 13 with 9:32 remaining, the Knights cut the deficit to five at 67-62 following a Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) three-pointer and two free throws from Ruckard with 3:46 to play.
 
That would be as close as the Knights would get the rest of the way, however, as Richardson answered the Calvin run with a pair of floaters to extend the lead back to nine to help the Comets seal the win.
 
Overway finished the game with 30 points on 9-17 shooting overall and 12-14 from the free throw line, helping him pass Jordan Brink in 10th place on the Calvin all-time scoring list with 1,516 career points. Overway also added nine rebounds.
 
Trevin Winkle (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian) joined Overway in double figures with 11 points. Ressler led all players with eight assists to go with five points and two steals.
 
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball will return to action on Saturday, January 31, when it plays at Albion College at 3:00 PM.