The Alma College Men's Basketball team played Wittenberg University on Tuesday afternoon in game two of the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic in search of tourney victory. The Scots trailed just once on the afternoon and pulled out a gutsy 56-50 victory over the Tigers, even as the home team made a late run.

With the win, the Scots improved to 2-9 on the season heading into next week's MIAA opener, while Wittenberg fell to 3-8 in 2014-15.

"This was a huge win for us because it was done with a defensive effort and mindset," stated Scots Head Coach Sam Hargraves. "We really competed and didn't allow the missed shots to dictate how hard we played defensively."

The Scots held a 9-5 lead after So. F Tyler Edwards (Swartz Creek/Swartz Creek) hit a free throw at the 14:39 mark of the first half. The Tigers responded be scoring five points in a row to take a 10-9 advantage one minute later, but that would prove to be the only lead for the home team.

After Edwards hit a three-pointer to put Alma back ahead 12-10, the Scots would never relenquish the lead again during the game. The contest was 17-16 at the 8:58 mark before the Scots went on a 16-1 run over the next 4:32, culminated by a Jr. G Scott Nikodemski (Rockford/Rockford) jumper.

The Tigers notched the final nine points of the first frame, but the visiting Scots still led at the break by a score of 33-26.

It took almost three minutes for either team to score in the second half, but Nikodemski hit two free throws for a 35-26 Alma advantage. The Scots still led by a margin of 46-34 at 11:41, when So. G Chase Fairchild (Rockford/Rockford) put in a lay-up.

Even with a solid lead, the Tigers would make things interesting before the final buzzer would sound. A 7-0 Wittenberg run cut Alma's lead to 46-41 five minutes later, but Nikodemski hit two free throws with 2:18 remaining to make it 50-43.

The Tigers would narrow their deficit to four points twice, 52-48 and 54-50 (with 36 seconds left). But two more points from Nikodemski at the charity stripe and a stingy final minute defense allowed the Scots to walk off the court with the much deserved six-point victory, 56-50.

The leading scorer for the Scots was Nikodemski's 16 points, while Edwards added nine points in the win. Fairchild had a team-high eight rebounds and recorded seven points, while Fr. G Jason Beckman (Shelby/Shelby) had a squad-best four assists and added a defensive steal.

Alma opens up MIAA action next Wednesday, January 7, when the Scots travel to Grand Rapids to take on the Knights of Calvin College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.