Men’s Basketball: Olivet battles No. 3 Calvin in 71-67 loss

OLIVET, Mich. – The University of Olivet men's basketball team tied the game in the final 30 seconds before falling to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) foe Calvin University, 71-67, tonight at the Cutler Event Center. The Knights are ranked No. 3 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

• Final Score: Calvin 71, Olivet 67
• Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 2-13 overall, 0-4 MIAA; Calvin 14-1 overall, 4-0 MIAA

• The first half was back-and-forth with four tied scores and six lead changes. The Comets led by as many as four points, 8-4, at the 15:43 mark. The Knights battled back and took their own four-point lead, 19-15, with 7:28 left until halftime. Olivet fought back and went ahead by one point, 23-22, at the 5:22 mark. Calvin answered with four straight points before a 4-0 Comet run kept them ahead by one, 27-26, with 1:36 showing on the clock. The Knights responded with a 6-0 spurt to gain the largest lead, 32-27, for either team in the opening 20 minutes. A basket by freshman Conner Schipper cut Calvin's advantage to three points, 32-29, at halftime.
• Olivet evened the score with a three-pointer by freshman Brayden Wine to open the second half. The Knights went on a 7-2 run to go back up five points, 39-34. The Comets had an answer in the form of a 7-0 run to take a 41-39 lead with 14:13 left in the game. After that, there were two more ties at 41-41 and 43-43.
• Calvin used back-to-back three-pointers to regain the lead at 49-43. Olivet chipped away at its deficit and leveled the score at 52-52. The Knights scored five straight points before leading two more times also by five points. After the third time at 64-59, the Comets used a 7-0 run to seize a 66-64 advantage with 2:12 remaining. There was no scoring until just under a minute left when Calvin's Owen Varnado drained a three-pointer to make the score 67-66.
• Olivet tied the game for the 11th time after senior Ryan Bart split two free throws with 18.2 seconds left. The Knights scored what proved to be the game-winning basket with just two ticks on the clock. Following a timeout, the Comets turned the ball over on the inbounds pass. Two free throws for Calvin sealed its win.

• Freshman Nathan Richardson scored a team-leading 17 points.
• Schipper posted a double-double, 16 points and 13 rebounds. He also had three assists and four blocks.
• Senior Noah Wiswary dished out eight points, while committing only one turnover.

• "I am very proud of the effort and fight tonight," said Olivet head coach Sam Hargraves. "Obviously it stings to lose on the scoreboard, but we've got to take positives from this, which we will, and just keep on building and building until our last game. Tonight, the missed free throws really hurt and were probably the main difference in the final score."

• The Comets head to Kalamazoo next Wednesday, January 17, for a game against the Hornets. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.