(Photo credit: Jordie Hayes/Alma College Athletics)

Holland, Mich. - In front of a sellout crowd of 3,477 at DeVos Fieldhouse, the 12th-ranked Alma College men's basketball team saw its 11-game winning streak come to and end as it fell to No. 7 Hope by a 71-57 margin. Alma drops to 16-5 overall while Hope improves to 19-2. In addition, the Dutch won their 17th straight on its home floor, and have been victorious in 32 consecutive home games against the Scots.

With the loss, Alma and Hope are now tied atop the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association standings with identical 9-1 records. Hope currently owns the tiebreaker between the two teams and is now on the inside track for hosting the MIAA Tournament in three weeks.

Junior Trevor Gernaat (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian/Mid-Michigan Community College) led the Scots with 12 points and a team high seven rebounds, while sophomore Kevin Gamble (Mt. Pleasant, Mich./Sacred Heart) netted 11 points. Senior DJ Beckman (Shelby, Mich./Shelby) added 10 points as the Scots shot 43.6 percent from the floor, making 23 of their 54 shot attempts.

Harrison Blackledge paces Hope with 17 points, while Brock Benson posted a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Alex Eidson added 15 points, including a pair of three-pointers late in the second half to help the Dutch pull away.

After an opening fast-break layup by Gernaat to begin the game, the Dutch responded to take a five-point lead, which is the largest either team was able to build in the opening 20 minutes. The Scots were able to put together a 11-2 run together midway through the period, thanks largely in part to eight straight points by Gamble, to take the lead at 20-16, then built up a five-point advantage with 4:08 remaining in the half on a dunk by sophomore Doug Bradfield (Mason, Mich./Mason). Hope answered that rally by scoring the final five points to knot the game at 28-28 at the break.

In the second half, the Scots were within two points at 44-42 with 9:31 to play, but Hope put together a 10-3 run, which included a pair of threes by Eidson, to go ahead by nine with 5:47 to play. Hope would pull away from there to hand the Scots their first loss in 2016.

Alma will return to Art Smith Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 10, to host Calvin College at 8:00 p.m. The Scots have won their last 14 games in front of a home crowd, one of the longest home streaks in NCAA Division III.

NOTES

• Alma saw its 11-game winning streak snapped and suffered a defeat for the first time since an 82-81 setback to Texas Lutheran on December 20, 2015.

• The loss also stopped a 14-game winning streak in MIAA regular-season contests, marking the first MIAA loss since falling February 4, 2015

• The setback to the Dutch snapped a six-game streak of wins on the road. Prior to tonight, Alma's last true road loss took place on Nov. 29, 2015, with a 71-69 loss at then-ranked No. 8 Elmhurst (Ill.)

• Alma is now tied with Hope for first place in the MIAA race. The Dutch own the tiebreaker, having a better second-half record in conference play than Alma does.

QUOTES

Head Coach Sam Hargraves

"Hope played really hard and tougher than I thought that they did at our place. They defended much better and were mentally and physically tougher in just about every facet. I thought their two big guys were outstanding tonight, and they seemed to affect our two big guys' shots. I feel that defensively, we were good enough to get it done, and not to take anything away from Hope, but I was disappointed our offensive side of the floor. We are really proud and happy where we are and what we've done. I feel like the pressure's been mounting, and we've never been in this situation before. Maybe we weren't quite ready for the moment, but there's a long way to go still."