The 219th edition of the Calvin-Hope men's basketball rivalry is set to tip off Friday in the MIAA Tournament semifinals at 5:30 p.m. at the Cutler Event Center on the campus of The University of Olivet. The MIAA Tournament is presented by Collegiate Credt Union. Tickets for the contest are available through the MIAA website at:
MIAA Tournament Tickets. Calvin's game against Hope will mark the first semifinal contest with host Olivet set to face Trine University at 7:30 p.m. in the second semifinal Friday night. The winners of the two semifinal games will meet in the MIAA Tournament Championship game Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at Olivet's Cutler Events Center.
BROADCAST COVERAGE - Friday's game will be live streamed through the
MIAA Sports Network and will feature live statistics at:
Calvin-Hope Men's Basketball Live Stats.
ALL-TIME SERIES - Hope leads the all-time series 111-107 in a series that dates back to the 1920-21 season. Calvin won the first meeting of the year, an 80-65 decision back on January 24 at Hope's DeVos Fieldhouse and then defeated the Flying Dutchmen 96-88 this past Saturday. Over 218 games, Calvin has outscored Hope by just 24 points (14,813-14,789) which works out to a difference of just 0.11 points per game! Calvin head coach
Bill Sall is in his seventh year as head coach. He is 9–8 against Hope. Hope head coach Greg Mitchell is 13–17 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.
MIAA Tournament Neutral Site Meetings - marks the third time the teams will have met in the MIAA Tournament at a neutral site with all three meetings taking place in the MIAA Tournament semifinals. Calvin defeated Hope 82-61 in the 2005 MIAA Tournament semifinals at Kresge Gymnasium with Hope handing Calvin an 83-68 defeat in the 2024 MIAA Tournament semifinals at Trine University. Calvin has won its last five meetings against Hope, sweeping all three contests last year including a 62-59 win in the 2025 MIAA Tournament final. The Knights then defeated Hope 80-65 and 96-88 in the 2026 regular season. Hope's last win over Calvin was its 83-68 win over the Knights in the 2024 MIAA Tournament semifinals.
MIAA Neutral Site Outlier – The two rivals also met in an MIAA post-season game back in 1981 but technically not in an MIAA Tournament game. In 1981, Calvin defeated Hope 69-67 in the final of an MIAA playoff game at Middleville High School to earn the MIAA's bid to the NCAA III Tournament. At the time, Albion, Calvin and Hope shared a tri-MIAA title with 9-3 records which created a "play-in" MIAA Tournament to determine the league's representative to the NCAA III Tournament. Hope received the top seed and a first round bye. Calvin met Albion on a Monday night at Middleville and defeated the Britons 81-76. The following (Tuesday) night, Calvin edged Hope 69-67 to earn the MIAA's automatic bid to the national tournament later that same week.
The Calvin Coach-Bill Sall is in his seventh year as head coach of the Calvin men's basketball program. This is his third straight 20-win campaign at the helm of the Knights. A 1994 Calvin graduate, Sall is in his 24th year as a head collegiate men's basketball coach with an overall career won-loss record of 370-299 heading into today. He was 177-148 in 11 seasons at Ferris State and 61-102 in six seasons at Northern Michigan. He is currently 132-48 at the helm of the Calvin men's basketball program He has guided Calvin to four straight 20-win campaigns including a 21-7 mark a year ago when the Knights won the MIAA regular season title at 14-0 and then won the MIAA Tournament crown for the first time since 2017. In 2024, he led Calvin to a 25-5 record while advancing to the Elite Eight Round of the NCAA III Tournament. 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. 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.
A Look at 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 on January 20 for his play in conference victories over Kalamazoo and Albion. Overway averages 23.5 points and 10.6 rebounds a game while connecting on 62.6 percent of his field goal attempts. Senior forward Trevin Winkle averages 13.1 points and 6.1 rebounds a game. Senior guard Luka Ressler averages 9.4 points and 4.7 assists a game. Sophomore guard Jordan Scott averages 8.8 points per contest. Junior forward Parker Schwartz also contributes 8.8 points a game.
In the MIAA Tournament - This is the 35th year for the MIAA men's basketball tournament….Calvin is 55-19 all-time in the MIAA Tournament and is second (13) behind Hope (15) for ,most MIAA Tournament titles. Other MIAA Tournament champions include Adrian (2020), Albion (1998 & 2019), Defiance (1999), Alma (2016) and Trine (2021) …Calvin is 19-0 in MIAA Tournament first round games…23-10 in semifinal games and 13-9 in MIAA Tournament championship games…neither the top seed or number-two seed has ever lost a first round game in the MIAA tournament…..in first round MIAA Tournament games, home teams are 80-8 against the opposition….all-time Calvin records against opponents in the MIAA tournament are: 10-1 vs Albion; 5-1 vs Adrian, 4-0 vs Alma, 9-13 vs Hope, 7-1 vs Kalamazoo, 12-0 vs Olivet, 5-2 vs Trine and 1-1 vs Defiance (no longer a member of the MIAA). Semi-Final hosts have made the Championship game 30 of 34 times in full tournament with single semi-final location.
Regular Season Meetings – Calvin handed Hope an 80-65 defeat at DeVos Fieldhouse on January 24 and then topped the Flying Dutchmen 96-88 this past Saturday at Van Noord Arena. Calvin overcame a 30-18 first half deficit to pull away for the win, outscoring Hope 16-6 over the final 6:09 of the first half and 46-29 in the second half to gain the double-digit victory. Calvin shot 48.4 percent from the floor in the win while Hope connected on 34.5 percent of its field goal attempts. Jalen Overway had 21 points and 16 rebounds to lead Calvin while Trevin Winkle, J.T. McIIwain and Luka Ressler had 13 points each. Parker Schwartz chipped in with 10. Hope was led by Marcus Wourman with 16 followed by Brendan Cargill with 13 and Justice Mims with 11. Calvin held a 43-33 rebounding advantage. In Saturday's 96-88 win, the teams combined for the most total points in a rivalry game since 1989 (99-86). Calvin was 11 of 27 from three-point range while Hope was 9 of 20 from distance. Jalen Overway had 28 points and 10 rebounds for Calvin with senior Trevin Winkle scoring a career-high 24 points Luka Ressler had 16 points and a career-high nine assists against only two turnovers. Jordan Scott added 10 for the Knights. Hope was paced by Brendan Cargill's 19 point effort with Parkey Hovey scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 boards. Sean Wesolek had 13 off the bench with Avery Sanchez adding 10.
A Look at Hope – Hope is led by junior forward Parker Hovey who averages 17.0 points and 7.8 rebounds a game while connecting on 49.2 percent of his field goal attempts. Freshman shooting guard Brendan Cargill has come on strong for the Flying Dutchmen, averaging 12.9 points a game while connecting on 35.8 percent of his three-point field goal attempts. Senior Marcus Wourman averages 11.1 points and 3.0 rebounds game followed by sophomore post Orion Yant who averages 8.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per outing. Hope is averaging 75.56 points a game on offense while giving up 73.24 points a game on defense. Hope is shooting 45.6 percent from the field and shoots 70.9 percent from the free throw line and 28.8 percent from three-point range.
The Hope Coach – Hope is under the direction of head coach Greg Mitchell. He is in his 12th year as head coach of the Hope men's basketball program. He is 215-105 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.
First Round Roundup – Calvin rolled to a 105-63 first round tournament win over Adrian Tuesday night at Van Noord Arena. Calvin jumped out to an 18-1 lead and never looked back. Seven different players for Calvin had nine points or more, led by Jalen Overway's 21-point night. Luka Ressler had 14 points, Parker Schwartz 12 and Jordan Scott 10.
MIAA Stat Leaders – In conference games this year, Calvin led the MIAA in scoring offense (82.4 ppg) and finished second in scoring defense (70.3 ppg). Calvin led the MIAA in field goal percentage defense (.390) and is currently ranked third nationally in overall games in that category (.368). Individually, Overway was the scoring champion (24.7 ppg) and finished second in rebounds per game (9.7). Overway also led the MIAA in field goal percentage (.645). Trevin Winkle was second in free throw percentage (.869) with Parker Schwartz sixth (.783). Ressler led the league in assists-per-game (4.5) and was second in assists-to-turnover ratio (2.2). Calvin's scoring average of 82.4 points a game ranks as the fifth-best MIAA average since 2002.
300 Assist Club – Calvin senior Luka Ressler has a season-high 122 assists on the season going into tonight's game. His previous season high was 56 a year ago. Ressler surpassed the 300 career assist mark in a February 11 contest at Olivet. He has a current career total of 327 which places him fourth on the Calvin career list. He joins Matt Harrison (443), Jim Timmer (421) and Jeremy Veenstra (329) as the only Knights with 300 or more assists.
Living with Luka – Ressler brings a four-game double-figure scoring streak into Friday's game. During that four game skein, Ressler is averaging 14.5 points. 5.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds a game while connecting on 55.9 percent (19 of 34) of his field goal attempts and 56.0 percent (14 of 25) of his three-point tries.
Jamming With Jalen – In overall games, Calvin senior center Jalen Overway averages 23.5 points and 10.6 rebounds a game. He has 14 double-doubles this season including 43 in his career. He has 1,702 career points, 854 career rebounds and 87 career blocks heading into the weekend. He sits 7th on the Calvin career scoring list. He is now sixth on the Calvin career rebounding list and 10th on the Calvin career blocked shots list. He is the national leader in field goals made (233), 11th nationally in Division III this season in double-doubles (13), 8th in field goal percentage (.626), 22nd in rebounds per game (10.6) and 16th in points per game (23.5). He was recently named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List. The award is presented annually to the player with the finest overall season within Small College Basketball, which includes NCAA II, NCAA III and NAIA institutions. Considerations include season statistics and individual achievements, awards, personal character and team achievements.
30 Point Game Club – Overway has six games of 30 points or more this season including 11 in his career. He ranks fourth on the Calvin career list for most 30-point games. Mark Veenstra (1973-77) leads the list with 19 30-point games (high of 56) with Dan Davis (1987-89) second with 13 (high of 38) and Steve Honderd third with 12 (high of 61). Of note, Calvin assistant coach
Derrick DeVries is fifth with nine 30-point outings (high of 38) with head coach
Bill Sall ninth with five 30-point outings (high of 38).
