GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin University men's basketball team won the rematch to even the series against Trine University 77-69 on Saturday at Van Noord Arena.
 
Calvin (16-7, 8-4 MIAA) got a balanced scoring effort with four players in double figures and 22 points off the bench as it dominated the second half against Trine (17-6, 9-3 MIAA) to extend a three-point halftime lead into a 22-point lead until the final minutes.
 
The Thunder defense made a concerted effort to defend Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) down low, putting 10 eyes and three defenders on him to make entry passes into the post difficult all night, but Calvin answered with a balanced scoring effort in both halves.
 
After a back-and-forth start, the Knights took control with 15-4 run that gave them a 25-14 lead with 8:25 to play in the half, but the Thunder answered with a 16-2 run to take a three-point lead before Calvin scored the final six points of the first half to go into halftime with a 33-30 advantage.
 
Trevin Winkle (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian) led the Knights with 10 first-half points, while Justin McIllwain (Holland, Mich./Hamilton) added nine off the bench and Brady Ewing (Petoskey, Mich./Petoskey) made a pair of three-pointers and scored eight in the half.
 
The Knights clung to a 41-40 lead five minutes into the second half but created separation with a 30-9 run over the next nine minutes. Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) made three straight three-pointers during the stretch to push the lead to 62-44 and Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview/Ohio Dominican) capped the run with nine straight points of his own, starting with two three-pointers and ending with a thunderous fast break dunk to give Calvin a 71-49 lead with 5:56 to play.
 
The Knights led 74-54 with 4:57 remaining before Trine made things closer down the stretch with a 12-0 run, but the Knights made three of four free throws in the final minute to finish off the win.
 
Calvin finished the day 10-25 from beyond the three-point arc and held the Thunder to 6-24 from distance. The Knights also held Trine to 38.3 percent from the field and forced 16 turnovers, igniting a transition offense that outscored the Thunder 22-4 in fast break points.
 
Ressler, Swartz and Overway each finished the day with 13 points, with Ressler and Swartz both scoring all of their points in the second half. Ressler also finished with five assists and four steals. Winkle finished the game with 12 points, and Jordan Scott (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy) added nine points and five assists.  
 
Overway also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds to record his 13th double-double of the season. He also moved into seventh place on the all-time scoring list at Calvin with 1,635 career points, passing Caleb Veldhouse on the all-time list.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "We did a lot of soul searching the last two days and got back to what Calvin basketball is a little bit," Calvin head coach Bill Sall said. "Real physical basketball game with two teams playing super hard. I'm really proud of our guys' effort. The great thing in this game is we are a sum of our parts, and everybody that stepped into this game did some amazing things.
 
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball returns to action on Wednesday, February 18, when it travels to Alma College for a game scheduled to tip off at 7:30 PM.