KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team hosted #14 Calvin in an MIAA matchup on Wednesday evening (Feb. 1). Before the game, the Hornets honored their lone senior on the team, Addison Atwater, for his two years of play at Kalamazoo after transferring from Kalamazoo Valley Community College. As for the contest, the Knights jumped out to an early lead and did not look back in the 84-51 win over the Hornets.
Calvin scored 13 of the first 15 points within six minutes of tip-off to grab a double-digit lead. Kalamazoo's 7-0 spurt trimmed the deficit down to four, but the Knights responded quickly by scoring 15 straight points. Again, the Hornets were able to string a 14-3 run together to get the deficit back to eight, but CU had another answer by scoring 11 of the final 13 points of the half, holding a 16-point advantage at the break.
Unfortunately, K could not go on a run in the second half as the Calvin lead ballooned over 20. The Knights' largest lead was 34 with five minutes to go in the game. Eventually, the nationally-ranked Knights took home a 33-point victory.
Josh Decker finished the night with nine points for Kalamazoo, as Lucas Hanifan contributed eight off the bench. The Hornets' leading rebounder was DJ Courtney at five, while Lukas Broadsword collected a team-high six assists.
Rounding out the scoring for Kalamazoo was Addison Atwater (6), Courtney (6), JJ Stevens (6), Dougie Blackwood (5), Nicholas Olmeda (4), Gabriel Sharp (2), Caleb Caul (2), Trey Bolling (2), and Ty Horky (1). Calvin shot the ball at a 52.5% (32-61) rate compared to Kalamazoo's 35.8% (19-53). In addition, the Knights ended up with more rebounds (43-23), assists (17-13), steals (8-5), and blocks (6-0).
Kalamazoo will continue MIAA play with a road game at Albion on Saturday (Feb. 4), beginning at 1 p.m.