On Thursday night, the Alma College Men's Basketball team tipped off against Calvin College in an MIAA Semi-Final battle in Grand Rapids. The Scots, as the #4 seed, gave the #1 seed Knights a battle from start to finish before coming up just a bit short in the end.

Alma's season came to a conclusion as Calvin converted 11 of their final 12 free throws and one key basket in the lane to hold off the Scots by a final score of 73-65. The Scots finished the campaign with an overall record of 11-15, while the Knights improved to 20-6 and advanced to the Championship game against Hope College on Saturday night.

To get into the semi-finals for the first time since 1997, the Scots compiled a 9-5 league record, the best for the school in the MIAA since the 1977-78 season. Alma went undefeated at home in Art Smith Arena during league play and the Scots defeated each of the three teams that finished ahead of them in the final MIAA standings.

The two teams came out of the gate cautiously and not wanting to make early, key mistakes. Jr. G Scott Nikodemski (Rockford/Rockford) put the Scots up 4-1 at the 18:13 mark of the first half and then the two teams would be tied at 4-4 and 6-6. Fr. F Doug Bradfield (Mason/Mason) put the Scots ahead 9-8 on a three-pointer at 14:53, but that would be the last Alma lead of the evening.

The Knights went on a 10-0 run over the next 6:29 to take a 18-9 lead before Fr. G Jason Beckman (Shelby/Shelby) drained a three to stop the Calvin push and make it an 18-12 contest. The Scots would cut it to four before the Knights closed out the half with the final five points, including a three-pointer with 42 ticks of the clock left. That bucket gave the home team a 31-21 advantage heading into the break.

The second half was very entertaining, as the upstart Scots made things very difficult for the perennial power Knights. Every time the Calvin faithful thought they could breathe easier, the spunky visitors from Mid-Michigan would fight back. It took some veteran poise down the stretch for the Knights to finally put Alma away and tuck this game into the win column.

After two free throws 2:00 into the final frame, Calvin had a 38-24 lead and the tide felt to be going the home team's way. However, Alma scored the next eight, the last two being free throws by Nikodemski to make it a 38-32 contest at 16:18.

The Scots cut it to five twice before Calvin extended it back to 10, at 51-41, with 10:34 on the clock. Again, Alms came back to score the next five points to make it 51-46 after two free throws by So. F Tyler Edwards (Swartz Creek/Swartz Creek) at 9:48.

It went back to a nine-point lead for Calvin at 57-48 with 6:07 remaining, but then Alma outscored the Knights 8-2 over the next 4:28 to close the gap to 59-56 after a jumper and then one of two free throws by Jason Beckman.

However, it was at this point that Alma began fouling and Calvin converted their free throws. The Knights would extend the advantage to 69-59 with 29 seconds left, but Alma scored the next six of the next eight points to make it 71-65 with just 14 seconds on the clock. Two final Calvin free throws made the final score 73-65 and Alma's season came to an end.

Jason Beckman led all Alma scorers with 16 and Nikodemski added 15 in defeat tonight. Jr. F DJ Beckman (Shelby/Shelby) and Jr. F Ethan Woelke (Keego Harbor/Orchard Lake St. Mary's) both had eight points for the Scots. Nikodemski had a team-high five rebounds and four assists, while Bradfield led Alma with seven total boards.

As a team, Alma shot 37% from the floor (23 of 62), including seven of 26 from beyond the arc, while Calvin was good on just 32% of their shots (19 of 60) and just four of 19 in three-pointers. The Knights held a commanding advantage in rebounds by a margin of 56-33, which proved to be a big difference down the stretch.

But, the Scots have nothing to hang their heads about and this season ends as a huge building block for the future. In addition, the Scots had a significant contingent of fans who traveled to Grand Rapids for the game and they did nothing but make the maroon and cream clad patrons proud to be a Scot or a Scots fan!