The Alma College Men's Basketball team looked to pick up its third conference win on Wednesday, traveling to Holland to take on Hope College. In front of a capacity crowd inside the DeVos Center, the Scots would be unable to rebound from early foul trouble to drop the 75-63 decision to the Flying Dutchmen. The loss would be Alma's 40th straight to Hope, a streak dating back to 1998.

"We got off to a tough start, said Alma Head Coach Sam Hargraves. "Giving up 15 points in just three minutes really hurt us."

"I was surprised we couldn't get more than 16 free throw attempts, especially with us shooting mostly threes. I am pleased with our fight in the second half, we just came up short."

With the loss, Alma falls to 4-12 overall and 2-3 in the MIAA.  The Flying Dutchmen improve to 10-6 on the year and 3-2 in the league with the victory.

Fr. F Doug Bradfield (Mason/Mason)  started the game locked in, scoring Alma's first four points before heading to the bench with two early fouls and the Scots down 10-4.

At 10:23, Hope would extend the lead to 17 points, 28-11, before a Bradfield jumper would bring Alma within 15 and looking for more.

Jr. G Scott Nikodemski (Rockford/Rockford) would cut the deficit to 10 at 6:49, before the home team put together seven-straight points to stretch the lead to 37-20, with 4:58 remaining in the first half.

With just 46 seconds remaining in the half, Nikodemski would connect on back-to-back free throws to cut the Hope advantage to seven late in the half. 

The Flying Dutchmen would sink a triple from half court to go into the locker room up  41-31.

The Scots began to chip away at the deficit to start the second half, cutting the lead down to just three, 45-42, with just over 14 minutes remaining.

Nikodemski would find So. G Chase Fairchild (Rockford/Rockford) in the corner for a triple to bring Alma within two, 56-54, to force a Hope timeout at 7:42.

The home team would put together an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 66-56 with just under four minutes left to play.

The Flying Dutchmen ended the game sinking six-straight from the line to get the tough 75-63 victory at home.

Alma shot 23-of-53 (43.4%) from the floor and just 4-of-18 (22.2%) from beyond the arc. Hope held the  43-30 rebounding edge on Wednesday, while the Scots 16 bench points compared to just six by the Flying Dutchmen.

Nikodemski led Alma with a team-high 16 points and six assists while battling foul trouble for most of the second half. Fairchild chipped in with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Fr. G Jason Beckman (Rockford/Rockford) added seven points and two assists in 28 minutes off the bench.

The Scots return to action on Saturday, Jan. 24, traveling to take on Adrian College at 3:00 p.m.