The Alma College Men's Basketball team opened up MIAA play on Wednesday evening as they traveled to Grand Rapids to take on the Calvin College Knights. In an entertaining contest from start to finish, the Scots gave the preseason favorites all they could handle, only to come up short 93-87.

Alma hit on 12 three-pointers and cut a deficit to one point late in the game, but the Knights converted some late free throws to hold on and earn the six-point victory.

With the loss, the Scots are now 0-1 in the MIAA and 2-10 overall, while Calvin improved to 1-0 in the league and 8-4 in 2014-15.

"Take away giving up 29 points in the first nine minutes of the game and I thought we did really well," said Scots Head Coach Sam Hargraves. "I'm happy with how we came back, but we won't win many games with the start that we had, especially against good teams."

Calvin jumped out to a 4-0 lead early in the game, but the Scots scored the next five and took their only advantage of the contest at 5-4 on a lay-up by Jr. G Scott Nikodemski (Rockford/Rockford) at the 18:03 mark.

The Knights then went on a 13-2 run to re-take a 17-7 lead at the 15:06 mark of the half and would eventually extend that to 29-14 with nine minutes gone in the first frame. It was 33-22 with 9:09 left before the Scots settled down and started to creep back into it.

The Scots cut the deficit to 43-37 at 3:05 when So. G Chase Fairchild (Rockford/Rockford) hit a three-pointer. The two teams then traded baskets until the end of the frame, with Calvin taking a 49-43 advantage into the break.

The second half was an outstanding 20 minutes of basketball as the Scots gave Calvin everything they could handle and more, before ultimately falling to a talented Knights squad. Alma made it a 54-52 contest with 17:58 remaining on a Nikodemski lay-up.

The Knights responded by extending their lead to 10 at 66-56 at the 12:59 mark of the final frame. But, the resilient Scots fought back to make it 72-69 at 7:08 on a three-pointer by So. F Tyler Edwards (Swartz Creek/Swartz Creek). Calvin then took their turn responding by scoring the next seven points for a 79-69 lead with 4:53 left in the game.

Alma then answered with a 10-1 run that culminated with a three-pointer by Jr. F DJ Beckman (Shelby/Shelby), cutting Calvin's lead to 80-79 with just 2:33 remaining in the game. After the Knights increased their advantage back to four with less than a minute left, Fairchild drained another three to make it 86-85 with just 46 ticks on the clock.

However, Calvin would outscore Alma 7-2 the rest of the way, including five of six from the free throw line, to hold off the visiting Scots, winning by a final margin of 93-87.

The leading scorer for the Scots was DJ Beckman with 22 points (also added six assists) and he was followed by younger brother Fr. G Jason Beckman (Shelby/Shelby), who had 18. Fr. F Doug Bradfield (Mason/Mason) contributed 16 points, while Nikodemski had a team-high eight assists. Jr. F JR James (Shelby/Shelby) had a sqaud-best five rebounds.

The Scots continue league play on Saturday afternoon when they host Albion College at Art Smith Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.