(Photo by Alexis Ganop)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Calvin men's basketball team picked up its second win of the season with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to edge visiting Olivet 75-74 Wednesday night inside Van Noord Arena.
Freshman Uchenna Egekeze connected on a step-back contested three-pointer for the win as time expired to lift the Knights to the win. Calvin fell behind with 3:29 left to play only to regain the lead as time expired.
The winning play began with 9.9 seconds left after Olivet missed the front end of a bonus situation at the free throw line with the Comets leading 74-72. Calvin pushed the ball up the floor with Egekeze handed the ball high above the key with four seconds remaining. With his primary passing options blocked, Egekeze was forced to take three quick dribbles and launch a fadeaway three. His shot found nothing but net as the horn sounded, sending his teammates into an uproar.
"The game plan was to set a little flair screen for Thad (Shymanski)," said Egekeze. "I was waiting to hit him on the flair but the pass wasn't there and Sam (LaDuke) was yelling that there were only three seconds left so I had to somehow get a shot up there and it went in. I've always wanted to hit a game-winner and this was my first one so it was a really good feeling seeing it go in."
In the early minutes of the game both teams were trading buckets with each team regaining the lead. Junior Emmett Warners made a terrific block on the defensive end which turned into two points for the Knights to give them an early 12-8 lead. The Knights would go on an 8-2 turn that was capped off by junior Nate Minderhoud hitting a three-point jumper to give Calvin an 20-10 with eleven minutes left in the half.
Egekeze made a tough layup through contact and came up with a steal on the other end of the court to keep the Knights going on both ends.
Olivet slowly climbed their way back into the game, but junior Jordan Katje made a layup with a foul to give Calvin a 37-29 lead with 3:40 left in the half.
The Comets hung around in the late minutes of the first half to make it a 41-34 game heading into halftime. The Knights shot 42.9% from the field and 28.6% from the three-point line in the first half. Warners also got into double digits rebounds early with ten in the first half.
Sophomore Brandon Paul got involved in the scoring early in the second half with another ferocious dunk. The Comets came out of the locker with energy and intensity to pull within three after a three pointer to make it a 48-45 game. The Knights struggled to find consistent scoring and found themselves in a close game with the Comets.
Each team was making clutch shot after clutch shot, then Olivet hit a deep three to take a 66-63 lead with 6:30 left in the game. Points were hard to come by in the final minutes of the game as Olivet made two free throws to take a 72-69 lead with three minutes left in the game. The Comets had the lead with a score of 74-72 after a made layup by Egekeze with thirteen seconds left.
Calvin got the quick foul and Olivet missed the front end of the bonus situation, setting up the final sequence.
"It was an exciting finish to say the least," said Calvin head men's basketball coach Bill Sall. "I thought Olivet grabbed the momentum near the end of the first half and carried it for much of the second half but credit our team for finding some resolve as the game went along. We kept grinding and came up with a really tough victory."
Thad Shymanski led the Knights in scoring with 16 points and Uchenna Egekeze finished with 15 points. Emmett Warners got his second double double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds while Jordan Katje got his first double double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Calvin shot 40% from the field and outrebound Olivet 48 to 38.
Olivet was led in defeat by Eddie Thigpen and Britton Angell who tallied 14 points apiece.
UP NEXT: The Knights will head to Alma for a non-conference game this weekend on Saturday January 23 with tip off at 3 p.m. Olivet will travel to Trine on Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest.