GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The number-two ranked Calvin University men's basketball team pulled away with a terrific second-half performance in a 77-54 win over Wheaton College (Ill.) on Saturday at Van Noord Arena.
Calvin (7-0) played well in the first half, shooting 56.0 percent from the field with the help of 12 points from Jalen Overway (Holland, Mich./Holland Christian), but could not pull away from the Thunder as Wheaton (2-7) trailed by only four (33-29) heading into halftime.
The Knights put it all together coming out of the locker room with a 24-4 run to start the second half while holding the Thunder without a field goal for nearly 10 full minutes during that stretch to push their lead to 24 points at 57-33.
In the second half, Calvin held Wheaton to 7-27 shooting (25.9 percent) on the defensive end, while also shooting 17-34 (50.0 percent ) on the offensive side of the court.
Overway continued to dominate down low with 14 more points in the second half, while Daane Harvey (Ada, Mich./Forest Hills Eastern) made a pair of three-pointers that helped the Knights put the game out of reach.
Calvin controlled the game down low, out-scoring the Thunder 46-16 in the paint with the help of 26 points and 11 rebounds from Overway.
The Knights finished the game shooting 52.5 percent overall and 38.5 percent (8-22) from beyond the three-point arc.
Uchenna Egekeze (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) joined Overway in double figures with 12 points to go with three steals and two blocks to lead the defensive effort. Luka Ressler (Caledonia, Mich./Catholic Central) led the Knights with five assists to go with five rebounds and two blocked shots.
COACH'S COMMENT: "It was good to see us play much better in the second half," Calvin head men's basketball coach Bill Sall said. "Overall some good stuff today. We're a really good defensive team, and I thought today we did a really good job. Especially in the second half. I thought we had six or seven stops in a row that really propelled us to where we wanted to go."
NEXT UP: Calvin men's basketball returns to action on Saturday, December 16, when it travels to St. Norbert for a game scheduled to tip off at 3:00 PM (CST).
