OLIVET, Mich. – The Calvin University men's basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 73-63 loss to Hope College in the semifinal round of the MIAA Men's Basketball Tournament presented by Collegiate Credit Union on Friday at The University of Olivet.
 
The game marked the 219th edition of The Rivalry and was a stark difference from last week's contest, which Calvin (19-8) won in the highest-scoring game between the two programs since 1989. Friday's game was a defensive battle, with Hope (17-9) winning while shooting 42.1 percent from the field while holding the Knights to 34.0 percent.
 
Hope started strong with a 12-7 run to start the game and held that lead for much of the half, pushing it as high as eight late in the half before taking a 34-29 lead into the locker room at the midway point.
 
The Flying Dutch held the Knights to 36.4 percent shooting for the half, but the Knights were able to hang within striking distance thanks to five three-pointers in the half, led by two apiece by Parker Swartz (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview/Ohio Dominican) and Jordan Scott (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Christian Academy). Zion Ruckard led the Knights with seven points at the break.
 
Marcus Wourman led the offensive effort for Hope, scoring 12 first-half points on 6-10 shooting and helping the Flying Dutchmen outscore the Knights in the paint 18-4 in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Flying Dutch built a nine-point lead early in the second half following a four-point play, but the Knights continued to hang within striking distance throughout, trailing 43-38 at the under-16 minute media timeout and 46-42 at the under-12 minute timeout.
 
The Knights continued to fight and trailed by only four (56-52) on a Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian) lay-up with five minutes to play, but that would be as close as Calvin could get the rest of the way as Hope pushed its lead into double figures for the first time with 1:41 remaining and made enough free throws down the stretch to close out the win.
 
After shooting 36.4 percent in the first half, Calvin was held to 32.3 percent in the second half, with Overway leading the way with 11 of his team-high 15 points after the break. Overway also finished with 14 rebounds on the way to his 45th career double-double.
 
Swartz finished with 13 points, while Trevin Winkle (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian) added 12 and Ruckard finished with 11.
 
COACH'S COMMENT: "It was a hard fought game," Calvin head coach Bill Sall said. "We knew going in that Hope was going to play a physical style of basketball and we missed some good opportunities, I thought. Especially in the second half. In the first half I thought we panicked a little offensively. Second half, I thought we did a little better job getting the ball where it needed to go, but it was one of those games where the hoop had a lid on it. Credit to Hope. They did a really good job. Tough loss, especially for the seniors, but overall I'm happy with what we put into the season."