Delaware, Ohio - The Alma College men's basketball team suffered a 96-77 defeat on Friday (Nov. 20) night, falling to 13th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan in the opening day of the Great Lakes Challenge on the campus of OWU.

Senior Scott Nikodemski (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) led the Scots (0-2 overall) with 12 points, while senior DJ Beckman (Shelby, Mich./Shelby) and junior Trevor Gernaat (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian) chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively. Beckman also led the team with eight rebounds.

The Scots kept pace with the Battling Bishops (3-0) for the first 11 minutes of the game, taking a 21-20 advantage with 9:09 to play in the first half. Ohio Wesleyan took control of the game from there, putting together a 27-7 run in the final nine minutes to take a 19-point lead into the half.

In the second half, Ohio Wesleyan built up a 30-point advantage halfway through the period en route to the victory.

Alma finished the game shooting .424 (28-66) from the floor, including 10-for-24 (.417) from the three-point line. Ohio Wesleyan shot .484 (31-64) and was led by Claude Gray, who scored a game-high 22 points. Ben Simpson recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Alma College continues play in the Great Lakes Challenge on Saturday, Nov. 21, facing Waynesburg (Pa.). Tip-off against the Yellow Jackets is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Branch Rickey Arena on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University. Visit GoAlmaScots.com to view live video of the contest.

NOTES

• DJ Beckman, with 11 points at Ohio Wesleyan, now has 991 career points. He is nine points away from becoming the 11th player in school history to score 1,000 points.

• Trevor Gernaat scored a season-high 10 points, marking the first time as a Scot he has scored in double figures.

• Jason Beckman tied a career-high with four assists and two steals.

QUOTES

Head Coach Sam Hargraves

"We found out tonight what being ranked 13th in the country means, and how far we are from it. Ohio Wesleyan is a team that truly has a culture and commitment to a system and to winning. We were good for a while, but could only compete at their level in the first half for about 10 minutes, then we lost all composure. The stats don't tell the story of how much they controlled this game. We weren't did calm down and started to do some nice things, but that was after they were up by 30. We face another tough, aggressive team tomorrow, and hopefully some of our second-half momentum will carry over."