MENOMONIE, Wis. – The Calvin University men's basketball team earned a 64-62 win at UW-Stout on Saturday to close a two-day trip to open the season in Wisconsin.
Calvin (1-1) overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to top Stout (0-1) with a strong second half.
The first half was a defensive battle and the Knights trailed by only one at 22-21 with two minutes remaining before the Blue Devils closed with a 6-0 run to head into halftime with a 28-21 advantage.
Calvin forced 11 first-half turnovers but committed nine of its own and shot 33.3 percent from the field compared to 46.2 percent for Stout.
Justin McIllwain (Hamilton, Mich./Hamilton) led the early scoring for Calvin with six points in the opening half.
The Knights took their first lead of the second half at 40-38 on a
Jonny Ingalls (St. Ignace, Mich./St. Ignace/Northern Michigan University) basket with 13:01 remaining and the two teams traded the lead back and forth from that point.
The Calvin defense held the Blue Devils to 30.0 percent shooting in the second half while getting to the free throw line frequently to the tune of 20-28 from the charity stripe in the second half to help the offense keep pace.
With the lead ping-ponging back and forth between the two teams down the stretch,
Jordan Scott (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian) put the Knights in front for good at 63-61 with a pair of free throws with 1:05 remaining. After the Blue Devils cut the lead to one with a free throw,
Malachi Hooser II (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) added one last free throw in the final seconds and the Knights made one final defensive stop as the buzzer sounded to secure the win.
Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview/Ohio Dominican University) went 12-12 from the charity stripe in the second half on the way to 14 second-half points and a team-high 18 points for the game. Scott also came up big in the second half, scoring nine of his 14 points after the break.
McIllwain finished with 10 points for Calvin while
Matt Elderkin (Grandville, Mich./Calvin Christian/Grand Valley State University) led the team with seven rebounds off the bench.
COACH'S COMMENT: "I felt we made a really good step today," head coach
Bill Sall said. "Very physical basketball game and we responded well. I loved our effort and defensive tenacity. We have a ton of things to clean up on both sides of the ball but a learning week in Wisconsin. Will be great to have a week to figure some things out."
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball will return to action on Saturday, November 14, when it hosts Edgewood College in the home-opener at Van Noord Arena at 1:00 PM.
