Men’s basketball

Calvin College 105, MLC 76

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Martin Luther College men’s basketball team lost the first of two games in the state of Michigan this weekend by the score of 105-76 at Calvin College on Friday.

The Knights hung tough in the first half and trailed by only nine (49-40) at the half, but were unable to slow down Calvin’s offense in the second half.

Calvin pushed the lead over 20 with just over 10 minutes to play and held the Knights off the rest of the way to secure the win.

MLC finished the game shooting 35.7 percent from the field and made nine of 27 attempts from beyond the arc. Calvin shot 45.5 percent from the field and made 14 3-pointers.

TJ Babinec finished as MLC’s leading scorer with 16 points. Ian Paulsen and Eddie Powe joined him in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Richard Eckmann led the team with seven rebounds, while Nate Lindloff finished with a team-best six assists.

MLC fell to 0-5 on the season in defeat. Calvin improved to 2-5 with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday when they travel to Great Lakes Christian College.

Women’s basketball

Calvin College 56, MLC 36

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Martin Luther College women’s basketball team opened its two-day trip to Michigan with a 56-36 loss at Calvin College on Friday.

The Knights came to play on the defensive end, holding Calvin to 27 percent shooting from the field and 3-of-24 shooting from beyond the arc, but struggled to score on the other end of the floor.

MLC was held to 22.4 percent shooting for the game, and also committed 27 turnovers. The Knights outrebounded Calvin 52-42, were unable to take advantage of enough of heir second chance opportunities.

Calvin ended the first half with a 29-20 lead, and then pushed the lead to 37-26 after a low-scoring third quarter for both teams. From there, the Calvin defense held the MLC offense to only two fourth-quarter field goals as it put the game away.

Jade St. Germaine led MLC with 11 points. Grace Schultz grabbed a career-best 16 rebounds to go with eight points and three steals. Moriah Hackbarth added nine rebounds and two blocks.

MLC fell to 1-5 on the season with the loss. Calvin improved to 3-3 with the win.