Grand Rapids, Mich. - The Alma College men's basketball team dropped its third straight road game on Wednesday (Jan. 31) night, falling to Calvin College by a 70-67 margin at Calvin's Van Noord Arena. 

The Scots (7-13 overall, 4-5 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association) fall into a tie for fifth place in the MIAA standings with Calvin and Albion College, as all three teams are two games out of first with five to play. Alma, however, loses the head-to-head tie breaker to the Knights with two losses in the regular-season, while Albion currently has the tiebreaker over the Scots with a better record against the league's top teams.

Senior Kevin Scheibert (Sanford, Much./Sanford-Meridian) led the Scots with 16 points, while sophomore Luke Lamoreaux (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) tied a career-high with 14 as Alma fought back from an 11-point first-half deficit and had a one-point lead with 1:22 to play. Lamoreaux also pulled down a career-high seven rebounds to tie Scheibert for the team high in the game.

Derrick DeVries led the Knights (8-12, 4-5 MIAA) with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

How It Happened

• Calvin had an 11-point lead with 4:02 to play in the first half before the Scots began to chip away, outscoring the Knights by a 9-4 margin to go into halftime down 33-27.
• Alma took the lead at 43-42 with 12:24 to play before Calvin tried to pull away again, taking a seven-point advantage at 56-49 with 8:20 on the clock.
• The Scots tied the game at 60-60 with 4:56 remaining and traded leads with Calvin, eventually gaining a 64-63 advantage with 1:22 left.
• Derrick DeVries hit a three-pointer with 58 seconds on the clock to give the Knights a 66-64 lead, then after a pair of missed threes by Rob Holmes and Luke Lamoreaux, the Scots were forced to foul, putting Calvin on the line for a series of 1-and-1 opportunities.
• Alma had possession down 69-66 with nine seconds to play, but a Calvin foul put Lamoreaux on the line, where he hit the front end of a 1-and-1 before missing the second. Luke Morrison made one of his two free throws on the ensuing possession, giving the Scots a desperation shot with three seconds left that fell short.

Noteables

• The loss to Calvin snapped a two-game winning streak for the Scots in Grand Rapids and marked Alma's first loss in Van Noord Arena since the semifinals of the 2015 MIAA Tournament. 
• Alma has lost its last three MIAA road contests after posting victories in its first two conference road games.
• The Scots were 6-for-34 (.176) from the three-point line, a season-low. In the first meeting between the two schools on January 6, Alma was 5-for-26 (.192) from behind the arc. 
• Luke Lamoreaux tied a career-high with 14 points, marking his highest scoring total of the season. He also collected a career-high seven rebounds.
• Doug Bradfield returned to action after a two-game absence due to injury.
• Kevin Scheibert has reached double figures in nine of his last 11 games, including six straight, and has scored 16 or more points in head of his last six appearances.

Up Next

The Scots return to Art Smith Arena on Saturday, Feb. 3, to host Albion College in a crucial game for both teams in the race to qualify for the MIAA Tournament. The Scots will be looking for the season sweep of the Britons after posting a 70-54 victory on January 10 in Albion. The opening tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. on the campus of Alma College.