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 three-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 tomorrow (Saturday, December 2) when they travel to Great Lakes Christian College for a game scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m. CST (4 p.m. EST).