On Friday afternoon, the Alma College Men's Basketball team took on Ohio Wesleyan University in the first game of the Calvin Tournament in Grand Rapids. The Scots fell behind early and could not recover en route to a 82-67 loss to the Battling Bishops.

With the defeat, Alma's record is now 0-3 on the season, while OWU came away victorious in their season opener.

"We got off to another bad start tonight, similar to the Defiance game," said Alma Head Coach Sam Hargraves. "We showed some grit and toughness to dig back out of a hole twice, but until we learn to compete for a full 40 minutes, these types of games will happen."

Ohio Wesleyan had early leads of 2-0 and 4-2 before Alma tied it at 4-4 on two free throws by Fr. F Doug Bradfield (Mason/Mason) at the 17:31 mark. The Battling Bishops then reeled off 12 consecutive points to secure a 16-4 advantage with 14:57 left in the half.

The score was 20-15 OWU after a three-pointer by Alma Jr. F DJ Beckman (Shelby/Shelby), but the Battling Bishops went on an 8-0 run and led by a margin of 28-15 with 9:33 left in the frame. However, Alma answered with a 14-2 run of their own and cut it to 30-29 when So. G Chase Fairchild (Rockford/Rockford) drained a three at 5:25.

The battle of runs continued as Ohio Wesleyan had a 12-0 one of their own to make their lead 42-29 and then were able to ride into halftime with a 44-31 advantage against the Scots.

The Battling Bishops scored the first four points of the final frame and had a pretty comfortable lead until about the halfway point of the half. Alma, trailing 56-46, scored the next eight points and cut their deficit to 56-54 on a three-point basket by Beckman with 9:34 left in the game.

The Scots then took their first lead of the game at 60-58 as Beckman was good on a three with 7:14 remaining in the contest. The Battling Bishops responded with a 17-1 run to take a commanding lead of 75-61 at the 3:00 mark of the half. That proved to be the final swing of the night, as Ohio Wesleyan was able to lock down the 15-point final margin of victory at 82-67.

Beckman easily paced the Scots with 32 total points and also had a team-high 14 rebounds, while the next highest scorer was Jr. F Corey Hungerford (Perrinton/Fulton) with nine. Fairchild added eight points, while So. F Tyler Edwards (Swartz Creek/Swartz Creek) also had eight to go along with six boards.

Alma will play game two of the tournament on Saturday afternoon when they take on Waynesburg University (PA). Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.