On Wednesday evening, the Alma College Men's Basketball team hosted MIAA rival Olivet College in a league tilt at Art Smith Arena. The Scots withstood a determined effort by the visiting Comets to earn a 76-70 victory.

With the triumph, Alma is now 2-1 in the MIAA and 4-10 overall in 2014-15, while Olivet fell to 0-3 in the league and 2-12 on the season.

"It's great to learn from the win, so we'll take it," said Alma Head Coach Sam Hargraves. "The main thing we talked about going in was limiting our turnovers. We didn't do a very good job of that, but we did make the plays down the stretch to get it done."

The game was one of runs with Alma almost always holding the upper hand. But, the Comets were pesky throughout, fighting back almost every time and even taking a short-lived lead in the second half. However, the Scots' defense and clutch free throw shooting would prove to be the difference in earning the win.

Alma jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first minute and a half and would push it to 11-5 at the 14:56 mark when Fr. F Doug Bradfield (Mason/Mason) put in a lay-up. Olivet then fought back and took a 20-18 advantage with 9:19 remaining in the frame.

The game would then be tied on four different instances the final 8:46 before the Scots scored the final four point of the first frame, the last two being a lay-up by So. F Tyler Edwards (Swartz Creek/Swartz Creek). That bucket gave the home team a 34-30 advantage at the break.

To begin the second half, the Scots outscored the Comets 12-2 over the first 3:36 and they led 44-32. Olivet then went on their own run of 16-2 over the next 4:45 to gain a 48-46 advantage.

At this point, Alma went on another run of their own by scoring the next 12 points to take a 58-48 lead with 7:22 left in the game. The last basket of that particular run came on a lay-up by So. C Quinton Cook (Ortonville/Ortonville-Brandon).

The Scots would never relenquish the lead from that point on as Alma grinded out the victory. However, Olivet would make it interesting by outscoring Alma 10-2 to cut their deficit to 60-58 at the 4:55 mark.

Alma answered with 10 for 10 from the free throw line and two three-pointers during the remainder of the game, including a huge three-pointer by Jr. F DJ Beckman (Shelby/Shelby). This was all good enough to hold off the Comets by the final score of 76-70.

Bradfield led the Scots with 20 points, while Jr. G Scott Nikodemski (Rockford/Rockford) was next with 19 in the win. The other Alma scorer in double figures tonight was Beckman, who had 11 overall. Bradfield also paced the home team with seven rebounds and four blocked shots, while Nikodemski had a team-high four assists.

Alma continues league play on Saturday, January 17 when they travel to Angola, Ind. to take on a talented Trine University Thunder squad. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.