Holland, Mich. - The Alma College men's basketball team continues to make history during the 2015-16 campaign and added to the team's accomplishments with the school's first-ever Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament championship, defeating Trine University by a 62-54 margin on Saturday (Feb. 27) evening at the DeVos Fieldhouse on the campus of Hope College. With the win, the Scots punched their first-ever ticket to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball tournament, which begins March 3.

A pair of Rockford, Mich., products - senior Scott Nikodemski and junior Chase Fairchild - paced Alma with 15 points each and were the only two Alma players in double figures. Trine's Jared Holmquist led all scorers with 17 points and collected a game-high 12 rebounds.

The first half featured blistering shooting from both teams, as both Alma and Trine shot 50 percent or better from the floor. Both teams were back and forth early on in the game until Alma put together a 6-0 run to go up 20-15 just over eight minutes into the half. The Thunder responded and cut the lead to one after three-pointers by Tarvis Malone and Kyle Dodson, but the Scots came right back with sophomore Jason Beckman (Shelby, Mich./Shelby) hitting a three, while Nikodemski added a bucket to put Alma up by six at 29-23. Trine scored the next four points to pull within two at 29-27, but after Dodson picked up his third personal foul, the Scots closed out the half outscoring the Thunder 12-7 and take a seven point lead going into the break.

In the second half, the defense tightened up and the shooting went cold for both teams, with each squad hitting less than 30 percent of their shots. Fairchild hit a early three-pointer to put the Scots up by 10 points, but Trine climbed back, pulling within one point at 48-47 with 8:07 to play. Alma repelled the Thunder's comeback attempt from the free-throw line, hitting all 10 of its shots from the stripe to secure the win. Alma finished the game 13-for-14 (92.9 pct.) from the line.

Alma (21-6 overall) will now await selection to the 62-team field for the 2016 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship, which will be announced on Monday, Feb. 29. The Scots will have the MIAA's automatic qualification.

NOTES

• Alma won the MIAA Tournament championship for the first time in school history. Prior to this season, the Scots had never appeared in the championship game.

• Alma secured its 21st win of the season, second-most in school history. The school record is 22 wins, set by the 1940-41 squad.

• Alma now leads the all-time series with Trine, 14-13.

• Tonight's game marked the first time all season only two Alma players reached double figures in scoring.

• Alma is 5-1 at neutral sites this year.

• The Scots are now 17-2 when leading at the half this season.

• Tyler Edwards tied a career-high with nine rebounds to lead the team.

QUOTES

Head Coach Sam Hargraves

On the win ...

"I loved the way we were able to get it done. You look at our shooting stats in the second half you would think there is no way that Alma is going to win that game with that poor of a shooting half. I thought we grinder and defended as well as we have all year. We forced Holmquist into an inefficient scoring night for him and we held him under 50 percent, which is what we were trying to do. We just moved and we scrapped and we rebounded. I thought Tyler Edwards probably played his best game in an Alma uniform. We did not have our best shooting weekend, but we kind of got our energy back. We had a stretch from UW-River Falls to Saint Norbert to the first half of the conference where we were just rolling and I felt like we were rolling tonight and we could not get anything to go in. We were somewhat fortunate that they (Trine) couldn't get it to go in either, but I would like to think that we had something to do with that."

On the second half shooting...

"There's no questions nerves has something to do with it. We had plays that are high-percentage shots that we missed. There's no doubt it's nerves, and as coaches we do the best job we can of just focusing on this game, focusing on the present. There's no doubt in the back of their mind they (the team) are very worried that if we lose this might be the end of the road. It was a big game, but I think a gutty win for us to be able to get this done without be"ing our best from a shooting standpoint."

On when the game got to 48-47 in the second half ...

"The message to the team was keep sticking with it, keep doing what we are doing. We could only get open, we just had to have faith that they were going to go in at some point. The other half was to continue to keep getting stops like we had been doing. We just got to such a nice rhythm defensively. Doug Bradfield had a late block, and there are a number of plays where we stepped up or hustled and got it done."

On the lack of scoring...

"Normally we have to score in the 70s or we lose but the energy, the focus, the effort was there all game. We were getting deflections, we were getting steals, we didn't really turn it over. We were locked in, we just couldn't get the ball to go into the basket tonight."

On the school's first MIAA Tournament championship ...

"Unbelievable. I'm so proud of getting these kids and watching them go from freshman and going through the arguments and going through the losing and going through the bad losing and building the confidence. The whole process culminates in cutting that net down and it is a really, really special thing and special to do it at Alma College where it hasn't happened."

Scott Nikodemski

On the win ...

"It's a great feeling going through the process we went through, going from freshman year to now. We've worked really hard and it paid off in the end.

On the mindset at 48-47 in the second half ...

"We stayed confident. We were still getting shots during that little drought, but we just weren't making anything and we kept believing. We told ourselves we just needed to keep getting stops on defense and keep shooting and trusting each other."

On regrouping from the Albion loss...

"Coming off that loss made us angry, and it made us want it more. It's actually good sometimes when a team loses. It gives us us fire and made us work for what we wanted. Every game is never easy, so every game we've got to be serious in."

Chase Fairchild

On the win ...

"Last year we lost our first eight games, so to go from that to this is pretty amazing. We were the only ones who thought we could do it, so it's a really good feeling."

On the school's first-ever MIAA Tournament title ...

"That's what makes it so much sweeter. To be able to be the first in the program's history to do something like that. We've heard from a lot of alums who have said they are so proud of us and they feel like they've won a little bit too."

On his 15 points ...

"I felt pretty good tonight, but it makes it a lot easier when you have somebody like Scotty (Nikodemski) and Jason (Beckman) who can create for you and get me wide open."

DJ Beckman

On the win ...

"It's definitely sweet to be able to do it here (Hope College's DeVos Fieldhouse). We had a pretty good following for it being spring break and the fans were so awesome. I read a quote once that 'you appreciate the mountain a lot more when you climb it yourself instead of getting dropped from the top' and that's kind of what we've been through. We've been to the bottom and that's what makes this very sweet and we look for bigger things to come."

On the team's depth ...

"It's a big testament to the teamwork, the pass-first, the good-to-great passing that we are able to accomplish. The scoring is completely different than last night and any given night anybody can go off and we are perfectly willing to let that person go off, get the ball and score. Chase had the hot hand early and we were trying to get the ball to him. If it would have been anybody else it would have been the same thing. To have that many weapons is unbelievable and what's given us the success we've had.

On the team's focus on making the NCAA Tournament ...

"We just wanted to take it one game at a time. We knew whoever won the game last night (between Hope and Trine) we were going to have to play, so we were able to prepare for them and do what we did."