Men’s basketball team comes up short against Calvin, 80-55

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Olivet College men's basketball team was only down three points one minute into the second half before Calvin College pulled away for a 80-55 win over the Comets this afternoon at Van Noord Arena in Grand Rapids.

The first four minutes and six seconds of the game was back-and-fourth, as neither team led by more than two points. The Knights took the largest lead for either team, 16-11, with 15:08 remaining in the first half. Olivet fought back and trailed by one point, 18-17, after senior Lee Gardner split two tosses from the charity stripe at the 11:31 mark.

Calvin then went on an 11-2 run to take the first double digit lead of the game, 29-19, with 7:41 left before halftime. The teams traded 5-0 runs over the next four minutes and 39 seconds to keep the differential at 10 points, 34-24. Junior R.J. Haas scored the final four points of the half to put the Comets down only six points, 34-28, at the intermission.

Gardner made two free throws 10 seconds into the second half to cut the Olivet's deficit to four points, 34-30. After the Knights got a free throw from Jordan Daley, Haas made a layup to make the score 35-32. The Comets would not get any closer for the rest of the game, as Calvin saw its lead increase to as many as 26 points, 76-53, with 2:01 remaining in the game.

Gardner paced Olivet with a game-high 17 points. Junior Chris Chrzan chipped-in 11 points, all in the first half. Junior Eric Ewing finished with 10 points and four assists. Haas contributed eight points and team-best six rebounds.

The Knights had four players, including three starters, score in double figures. Daley led the way with 16, followed by Michael Wilks with 12, and Cam Denney and Preston Huckaby with 10 each. Daley, Denney and Michael Welch grabbed seven rebounds apiece, as Calvin out-rebounded the Comets, 51-24.

Olivet hosts Kalamazoo College next Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m.