On Saturday evening the Alma College men's basketball team traveled to Hope College and lost to the Flying Dutchmen by a score of 70-67 in an MIAA tilt. The Scots held a small lead at halftime, but Hope crawled back in front and held on for the close home win.

"I am very proud of our defensive effort tonight as it was much better than the last two games," remarked Alma Head Coach Sam Hargraves. "We did a great job of battling back after they went on a run. We made it interesting at the end and did not back down. Turnovers again hurt us, we need to get a shot on every possession to have a chance. We will now see what we are made of the next three games."

It was an entertaining and close contest throughout the first 20 minutes as the game had five lead changes during the half. Alma So. F DJ Beckman (Shelby/Shelby) scored the Scots' first five points of the game to give the visitors a 5-0 advantage just 2:09 into it.

Hope then led 6-5 and the two teams went toe to toe, but Alma was able to build a five-point advantage at 17-12 when Fr. G Chase Fairchild (Rockford/Rockford) hit a three-pointer with 10:53 left in the half.

The Flying Dutchmen would come back to tie the game at 27-27 and then again at 29-29 with 4:23 left in the first frame. However, a free throw by So. G Brandon Trefil (Perrinton/Fulton) put the Scots up 30-29 just 17 seconds later. Then a three-point play by Trefil gave the visitors a 36-29 advantage at the 3:16 mark.

The two teams would exchange baskets for the remainder of the half and the Scots went into the break with the 40-36 lead.

Hope scored the first four points of the second half and had a 43-42 lead after a three-pointer with 17:41 left in the game. The Flying Dutchmen would extend their advantage to nine at 56-47 with 10:55 remaining and things looked bleak for the Scots.

However, Alma went on a 10-0 run that culminated with a lay-up by Sr. G Brandon Krause (Sanford/Meridian) that put the visitors ahead 57-56 with 8:38 left in the contest. The Flying Dutchmen are a talented and experienced squad that does not panic and it showed on Saturday as they rebuilt a 67-62 lead at the 2:26 mark.

This time the deficit would prove to be too much for the Scots, although they played hard to the last buzzer. Fairchild nailed a three-pointer with four seconds left to trim the Hope lead to 70-67 but it was too little, too late. The Flying Dutchmen were able to run out the clock and escape with the three-point home win.

Beckman was Alma's leading scorer with 25 points and added six rebounds and three blocked shots, while Fairchild contributed 11 points and five rebounds. As a team, the Scots made 40% of their shots (23 of 58) and connected on nine of 23 three-pointers.

Meanwhile, Hope was also good on 40% of their attempts from the field (21 of 52) and hit just three of 13 from beyond the arc. Each team had 16 turnovers, while Hope had the advantage on the boards by a 40-31 margin.

Alma is in action again on Monday night when they travel to Olivet College to take on the Comets. The contest is the make-up of a previous game postponed due to weather conditions. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.