GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Calvin completed a regular season sweep of rival Hope for the first time since the 2019-20 season on Saturday afternoon, handing the Flying Dutchmen a 68-60 defeat in front of nearly 4,000 fans at Calvin's Van Noord Arena.
The victory was the 12th straight on the season for Calvin including its second win over Hope in the last 10 days as the Knights earned a 65-60 win at Hope on January 22.
The Knights (13-6 overall) stand atop the MIAA standings at 8-0 in conference play after a memorable week that included a 62-58 win at No. 2 Trine Wednesday and included Saturday's rivalry win over Hope.
In its victory on Saturday, Calvin pulled out to a 30-18 first half lead on Hope (9-10 overall, 4-4 MIAA) but the Flying Dutchmen closed the half on a 10-1 run to trail by three at 31-28 at the break.
Calvin opened the second half on an 11-2 run to build a 42-30 lead.
Calvin stretched its lead to 15 at 53-38 on a three-pointer from the right wing by junior Owen Varnado with just over eight minutes left to play. Hope roared back to within six at 57-51 with 4:10 left to play and had momentum on its side when Calvin sophomore Parker Schwartz drained a deep triple that beat the shot clock and put the Knights up 60-51. Calvin was able to hold off Hope the rest of the way, connecting on four free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win.
Graduate student Uchenna Egekeze was a do-everything player once again for the Knights, scoring 16 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists. Junior Trevin Winkle had 10 points and Varnado and junior Luka Ressler nine points apiece for the Knights.
Hope was paced by sophomore Parker Hovey who dropped in a game-high 17 points along with eight rebounds and four steals. Junior Marcus Wourman had a strong game as well for Hope with 15 points and three assists.
Hope held a 36-34 rebounding edge but shot just 33.3 percent from the floor while Calvin shot 46.8 percent from the floor, 36.8 percent (7 of 19) from three-point range and 71.4 percent (17 of 22) from the free throw line.
Saturday's game was the 215th meeting between the two rivals with Hope still leading the all-time series 111-104. Just two points (14,577-14,575) separate the two teams in 215 meetings, with Hope holding the two-point edge.