UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Oh. – For the second time in three years and for the 10^th time in program history, the Calvin men's basketball team is headed to the Round of 16 of the NCAA III Tournament.

Using a gritty and determined effort, Calvin knocked off No. 2 John Carroll (26-3) on its home court in front of a capacity crowd of 2,220 fans.

Ranked 10^th nationally, Calvin (24-4) advances to face No. 4 Randolph-Macon (25-4) in a sectional semifinal game next Friday at 4:45 p.m. (EST) on the campus of Trinity University in Hartford, Connecticut. Trinity will host the sectional and will face Tufts in the game to follow at 7:45 p.m. (EST).  

In its win over John Carroll, Calvin took a 31-24 halftime lead and later bumped its advantage to double-digits in the second half. The Knights then withstood a furious comeback effort by the Blue Streaks inside the final five minutes, using a clutch three-pointer off the window and timely free throw shooting inside the final minute to gain the win.

Calvin withstood John Carroll's full-court pressure defense for much of Saturday's contest and turned the game into a methodical half-court affair.

Calvin took a 14-3 lead on a trio of three-point buckets from senior Marcus Bult, forcing John Carroll into a timeout just four-and-a-half minutes in.

John Carroll chipped back into the deficit and trailed 21-17 with 4:29 remaining but sophomore Jalen Overway drained a key triple to put the Knights up 24-17. Another triple by sophomore Luka Ressle and a steal and fast-break dunk by senior Uchenna Egekeze gave Calvin a 31-21 lead inside the final minute of the half. John Carroll then scored three quick points to close to within seven at the break.

A Luke Frazier triple in the opening moments of the second half brought John Carroll within four at 31-27 but Calvin followed with a 9-1 run to go up 40-28. The Calvin lead ballooned to 14 points on three separate occasions and then to 15 points at 53-38 on a pair of Overway free throws with 7:35 remaining.

Up by 13 points with six minutes left, Calvin appeared poised to close out the win but a series of missed free throws and a collection of electric plays by an explosive John Carroll offense brought the home crowd to life. Jerry Higgins III converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 53-45 and point guard Luke Chicone followed with back-to-back three-point shots with his second made triple drawing a foul and a subsequent made free throw to make it a 55-52 game with 4:02 left to play.

Ressler canned a free throw for Calvin out of the final media timeout but Will Yontek converted a driving layup to make it a 56-54 game with 3:48 remaining.

Bult then delivered a clutch and perhaps fortuitous shot on the ensuing possession as he launched three-pointer from the left wing that banked off the glass and in to put the Knights up 59-54 with 3:30 left. The Bult triple gave the Knights some oxygen in the deafening din of the DiCarlo Center.

John Carroll got within three at 61-58 on a jumper by Chase Toppin but junior Trip Riemersma  answered with two clutch free throws to make it a five-point Calvin advantage. John Carroll misfired on its next two shot attempts and the Knights began to make more free throws.

Chicone scored four points inside the final minute but Overway converted a layup off a press-breaker and the Knights connected on four free throws inside the final 36 seconds to seal the win.

Overway finished the game with 20 points and 10 boards to notch his 15^th double-double of the season and the 28^th of his career. Bult had 20 points and eight boards. Egekeze had a monster game with 15 points, nine rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals while holding Chicone in check for a good portion of the game.

Chicone finished with a game-high 22 points, scoring 15 of his points over the final 10:39 of the contest. Frazier had 14 points and Yontek 12 for the Blue Streaks.

Calvin held a 46-39 rebounding advantage over John Carroll. The Knights were 7-of-17 (.419) from three-point range while the Blue Streaks were just 4-of-19 (.211). Calvin shot 47.4 percent from the field while holding John Carroll to a season-low 27.4 percent field goal percentage with the Knights blocking 10 shots. Calvin was 20-of-32 (.625) at the free throw line while John Carroll was 22-of-31 (.710) at the charity stripe but just 7-of-13 in the first half.