Richardson’s 29 points lead UOlivet to 76-69 win over No. 18 Calvin

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The University of Olivet men's basketball ended out the first half of its Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) schedule with a 76-69 win over Calvin University tonight inside the Van Noord Arena. The Comets are tied for first in the MIAA standings and the Knights, ranked No. 18 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, slip into a tie for third.

THE BASICS

• Final Score: Olivet 76, #18 Calvin 69
• Location: Van Noord Arena; Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 9-9 overall, 6-1 MIAA; Calvin 13-5 overall, 5-2 MIAA

FOR THE COMETS

• Richardson made 11-of-15 baskets, including 4-of-6 three-pointers, and 3-of-6 free throws for high 29 points.
• Sophomore Sam Howard joined him in double figures with 22 points, making 6-of-8 field goals (with two triples) and 8-of-9 free throws.
• Junior Lee Hardy grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.
• Freshman Sean Shenker dished out six assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Olivet, led 13-2 at the 16:48 mark of the first half. The Knights used a 10-3 run to close the gap to four points, 16-12. Over the next six minutes and 35 seconds, the Comets outscored Calvin, 21-5, to take their largest of the game, 37-17, with 6:45 left until halftime. The Knights trimmed their deficit down to 15 points before Richardson made a three-pointer to make the score 46-28 at the intermission.
• Calvin began the second half with an 18-4 run to whittle the Olivet advantage down to only four points, 50-46, at the 13:26 mark. Olivet countered with an 11-2 spurt to push its lead back to 13 points around the midpoint of the second half. The Knights were able to make another run to trail by only five points, 67-62, with 3:46 left. Richardson responded with back-to-back baskets over a defender to prevent Calvin from getting any closer for the rest of the game.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Tonight's win snapped a 15-game losing streak against Calvin. The last time Olivet beat the Knights was February 16, 2019. Thus, it was the first win for Olivet head coach Sam Hargraves against his alma mater.
• With his 29 points, Richardson is now only 25 points shy of the 1,000 career point plateau.
• The Comets have now won five straight games to move its overall record to the .500 mark at 9-9.

UP NEXT

• The Comets travel to play Kalamazoo College on Saturday at 3 p.m.