On Tuesday evening, the Alma College men's basketball team hosted North Park University out of Chicago in a non-league contest at Art Smith Arena. The Scots came up short to the Vikings, 79-75, in a highly competitive affair that went back and forth all night.

With the loss, Alma is now 0-6 in 2013-14, while North Park evened their season mark to 2-2.

"We have to learn how to defend without fouling," said Alma Head Coach Sam Hargraves. "The free throw differential was huge, along with too many silly turnovers by us. It's hard to lose a game when you shoot as well as we did and then hold a team to 42%."

The first half saw both teams start out a bit tentatively but the hometown Scots started to rev it up midway through the frame. North Park scored the first two points of the game and maintained an advantage through the first eight minutes.

Trailing 14-13, Sr. F Isiah Law (Grand Haven/Grand Haven) put in a lay-up for the Scots, giving them their first lead of the contest at 15-14. That basket was in a stretch where Alma had a 12-0 run, eventually leading 21-14 before two Vikings free throws stopped the onslaught.

The Scots had their biggest lead of the half at 31-19 when So. F DJ Beckman (Shelby/Shelby) knocked in a lay-up at the 5:48 mark. Alma led 33-23 before North Park made their counter run as they outscored the home team by a margin of 9-0 to make it a 33-31 game with 2:24 remaining.

The two teams basically exchanged baskets the rest of the first half before Alma was able to go into the lockerroom with a 39-37 lead, the last point being a free throw by Law with just 20 seconds left. The Scots shot 52% (14 of 27) and the Vikings 32% (9 of 28) in the first 20 minutes, with six and five three-pointers respectively.

North Park jumped out to a 42-39 lead early in the second half before the Scots regained the advantage at 47-46. The see-saw continued and the Vikings led by four, 55-51, with 12:45 left in the contest.

Another spurt by the Scots put them ahead by a score of 61-57, with the final point being a free throw by So. G Scott Nikodemski (Rockford/Rockford) at 8:14. A 13-5 run by North Park put them ahead 70-66 at the 4:31 mark but the Scots fought back valiantly, taking a 74-73 lead on two free throws by Sr. F Kyle Aho (Gwinn/Gwinn) with just 47 seconds left.

However, the Vikings then took control by scoring two buckets sandwiching an Alma turnover and pushed out to a 77-74 advantage with five ticks on the clock. It was too much for the Scots and after a couple of more trips to the foul line, North Park had earned the hard-fought 79-75 victory.

Law led the Scots with a career-best 30 points, surpassing his previous high of 25 versus Trine University on 1/5/13. In addition, his point total was the most for an Alma player since Jordan Reddit scored 31 in a game at Madonna University on 12/5/09.

Sr. G Brandon Krause (Sanford/Meridian) was next for Alma with 12 points and he added a team-best six assists. Aho finished with 11 points, while Fr. G Chase Fairchild (Rockford/Rockford) had nine points and five rebounds. Law added a team-high six boards on the evening.

Alma next plays on Sunday afternoon at Finlandia University. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.