Elmhurst, Ill. - The eighth-ranked Elmhurst College Bluejays scored with no time remaining to hand the Alma College men's basketball team a 71-69 defeat on Sunday (Nov. 29) afternoon at Elmhurst's R.A. Faganel Hall.

The Scots (1-3 overall) were led by senior Scott Nikodemski (Rockford, Mich./Rockford), who scored 14 points and added a season-high seven assists. Junior Chase Fairchild (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) and sophomore Doug Bradfield (Mason, Mich./Mason) each added 13 points, with Bradfield scoring all of his baskets in the final 20 minutes of play.

Junior Trevor Gernaat (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian) paced Alma with seven rebounds.

The Scots led by as many as five points in the first half with early success from behind the three-point line before Elmhurst (4-1 overall) answered, taking a 15-13 lead with 13:31 left in the opening frame. Alma regained the lead and built up a four-point advantage at 25-21 with 6:32 left in the first half, but a 16-6 run by the Bluejays to end the half saw the Scots down by six, 37-31, at the break.

Alma stormed back in the second half, scoring 10 of the half's first 13 points to regain the lead at 41-40 with 17:49 to play. The teams would trade leads on three occasions in the next two minutes before Elmhurst tried to pull away, taking a 60-52 lead with 8:47 remaining. The Scots responded with a 13-5 run to tie the game at 65-65 with 5:24 left, then after a pair of Elmhurst free throws, a layup by Nikodemski with 3:03 to play tied the game again at 67-67.

Alma regained the lead with under two minutes to play when Gernaat hit both ends of a 1-and-1 from the free throw line, but Elmhurst was able to tie the game with less than a minute left on a pair of shots from the charity stripe.

The Scots had a chance to take the lead with 31 seconds left, but a three-pointer by Fairchild bounced off the rim, setting up the game's final possession. The Bluejays had three shots in the final nine seconds, with the final basket tipped in by Erik Crittenden off of an offensive rebound as the buzzer sounded.

Kyle Wuest led Elmhurst with a game-high 15 points as four Bluejays scored in double figures. Elmhurst also out-rebounded the Scots by a 36-27 margin.

Alma finished the game shooting .500 (28-56) from the field, including .409 (9-22) from the three-point line.

The Scots come home for the first time this season on Wednesday, Dec. 2, to host North Park (Ill.). Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. at the Art Smith Arena on the campus of Alma College.

NOTES

• Two of the Scots' four losses this season have come in the final seconds. In the season-opening contest at Ohio Northern, the Polar Bears scored with two seconds left to take the lead.

• The game was the first of four straight against teams from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW).

• Alma faced its second nationally-ranked opponent of the season.

• The Scots shot .500 or better from the field for the second time this season.

• Jason Beckman played a season-high 29 minutes.

• Tyler Edwards tied a season-high with six points and also tied a career-high with two three-pointers.

• Scott Nikodemski has scored 10 or more points in every game this season. Nikodemski posted a season-best seven helpers and three steals while playing in a season-high 34 minutes.

• Rob Holmes played a season-high 18 minutes.

• DJ Beckman recorded his first block of the season and was held to single-digit scoring for the first time this season.

• Trevor Gernaat tallied a season-high three steals.

• Chase Fairchild recorded a season-best six rebounds while playing a season-high 29 minutes.

QUOTES

Head Coach Sam Hargraves

"Watching the film of this game will be really interesting and telling. It's hard to say exactly how I feel without watching it. I will say that I'm pretty proud that we lost by two to the preseason number eight team in NCAA Division III, but at the same time it's so tough not to pull it out. Close games come down to making the big plays at the end so often, and in this game Elmhurst made the final play and we didn't. It was ironic that an offensive rebound beat us, which was our biggest concern coming into this game. They have incredible size and strength, and it showed on that last play."