On a rare Saturday night contest, the Alma College Men's Basketball team hosted Hope College in a MIAA tilt at Art Smith Arena. In front of a raucous pro-Alma crowd that was celebrating a "Black Out", the Scots used a monstrous second half to defeat the Flying Dutchmen 91-84.

In their past three home games, Alma has now beaten the MIAA's first place (Calvin), second place (Trine) and third place (Hope) teams to firmly entrench themselves in the league's playoff race. Tonight was Alma's first win against Hope since the 1997-98 season, a span that included 40 straight contests.

With the win, the Scots are now 7-5 in the MIAA and 9-14 in 2014-15, while the Flying Dutchmen fell to 8-4 in the league and 15-8 overall on the season. Alma is now 6-0 at home in MIAA play and are enjoying the "Art Magic" that permeates the entire arena.

"I wasn't thrilled with our defensive effort in the first half and was actually happy that we were only down two at the break," said Alma Head Coach Sam Hargraves. "But, in the second half, our intensity on the defensive end was much better and offensively, we were pretty darn good all the way through. For someone like Scott to have a game like he did with 21 points and seven assists is huge. But, the most impressive part for him was no turnovers - what a big thing for us.

"The crowd tonight was fantastic. To have that kind of student support on a freezing Saturday night with a late tipoff time is a great statement. Plus, I saw all kinds of community members at the game too and that just shows that people are buying into what we are trying to accomplish. We are a family that is growing members each day and the atmosphere at 'The Art' is a big reason. Thank you to everyone."

The game was exciting from the opening tip and the home crowd gave the Scots the necessary momentum. Alma jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Hope scored 13 of the game's next 15 points and led by 17-12 at the 13:58 mark of the first half.

The Scots then went on a 13-3 run to take the 25-20 advantage at 10:11, with the last bucket being a thundering dunk by Fr. F Doug Bradfield (Mason/Mason). The Scots then led until a lay-up by Hope with 3:56 remaining in the half that gave them a 35-34 lead. It was then the Flying Dutchmen's opportunity to hold the lead for a bit and they ultimately took a 41-39 lead into the halftime break.

The second half belonged to the Scots and their fans, especially the students in the "Black Out" section that cheered from beginning to end.

Hope scored on a tip-in with 13:37 left in the game and had their last lead of the night at 56-55 before Alma Jr. G DJ Beckman (Shelby/Shelby), gave the Scots the 58-56 advantage 24 seconds later.

The Scots took an eight point lead, at 66-58, when So. F Tyler Edwards (Swartz Creek/Swartz Creek) drained two free throws at 9:52. The Flying Dutchmen cut their deficit to 68-65 with 5:31 remaining, but that is the closest they would come the rest of the way.

Alma scored the next four to squash the rally, and went ahead 72-65 on a layup by Fr. G Jason Beckman (Shelby/Shelby) at the 4:20 mark. The home team proceeded to lead by eight points on two instances and actually took their biggest lead of nine points with just 38 seconds remaining. Two free throws by So. G Chase Fairchild (Rockford/Rockford) put Alma ahead 86-77 and the countdown began.

The Scots' final 14 points were from the charity stripe, as they closed out the contest by making 14 of 16 chances, showing the necessary poise down the stretch to solidify the victory. Much to the delight of the home crowd, a meaningless three-pointer by Hope bounced off the rim at the buzzer, and the Scots closed out the 91-84 victory.

Alma shot a blistering 68% from the field (32 of 47) and finished 22 of 29 from the free throw line. Six Scots players scored in double figures, led by Jr. G Scott Nikodemski (Rockford/Rockford), who had a team-high 21 points. He also had seven assists with no turnovers as he was a constant threat through all of his 36 minutes played.

Jason Beckman had 16 points, followed by 12 from Bradfield, DJ Beckman and So. C Quinton Cook (Ortonville/Ortonville-Brandon). In addition, Edwards had 11 points and added six rebounds in the victory. DJ Beckman also added six boards and had a team-best three steals defensively.

Alma closes out their regular season home schedule on Wednesday night when they host Adrian College at "The Art". Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Let's pack the place again and continue the home court advantage like no other in the MIAA - it's making a difference! There is not a team in the league that wants to step foot on that court and you the fans are a big reason! Go Scots!