The Alma Men's Basketball kicked off the Wittenberg Tournament on Monday afternoon, taking on Wilmington College (OH) in Springfield, OH. Despite having five players score in double-digits, the Scots would fall to the Quakers 92-85 inside the Pam Evans Smith Arena.

"We certainly lost some of the momentum from the Ripon win," said Alma Head Coach Sam Hargraves. "We came out and really executed for most of the first half and  had a chance to be up even more than we were."

"We just didn't make enough tough defensive plays in the last five minutes to pull this win out."

Alma drops to 1-9 on the year with the loss, while Wilmington improves to 3-7 with the win.

The Scots started the game in total control, leading 18-7 within the first five minutes of action.

The Quakers would not reach double digits until 12:29 with free throws, but Alma still held the commanding 24-9 lead.

With just a few minutes remaining, Wilmington would string together a 9-0 run to cut the Scot lead to 44-41 with 52 seconds remaining in the half.

Both teams would exchange triples to end the half and Alma entered the locker rooms with the slim 47-44 lead.

The Quakers started the second half on a 5-0 run to take the 51-47 advantage with 18:10 remaining in regulation.

The Scots remained close for the next couple of minutes, eventually tying the score at 69-69 with just over 10 minutes left.

The rest of the game would see three more ties, but in the end Wilmington proved too much for the Scots, handing Alma the 92-85 loss.

So. G Chase Fairchild (Rockford/Rockford) and Fr. G Jason Beckman (Shelby/Shelby) led five Scots in double figures, scoring 16 points a piece. Jr. F DJ Beckman (Shelby/Shelby) chipped in 12 points and four boards, while Jr. F Ethan Woelke (Keego Harbor/Orchard Lake St.Mary's) added 12 points off the bench. Jr. G Scott Nikodemski (Rockford/Rockford) tallied 11 points and three dimes in the loss.

Alma shot 28-of-59 (47.5%) from the floor and an impressive 14-of-23 (60.9%) from the three-point line. The Scots committed 13 turnovers while forcing seven and out-rebounded the Quakers 35-33.

Alma continues play at the Wittenberg Tournament tomorrow, December 30, taking on host Wittenberg University (OH) at 2:15 p.m.