Beloit, Wis. - The Alma College men's basketball team defeated Beloit College 82-72 on Friday (Dec. 20) evening. Cole Kleiver (Williamston, Mich. / Williamston) led the Scots with 30 points – his second 30-point game of the season and the third of his career.

Both teams were on fire from the field in the first half. Alma shot 16-of-26 (61.5 percent) and 7-of-13 from three (53.8 percent); Beloit shot 14-of-22 (63.6 percent) and 6-of-8 from three, all of which came from Michael Polakowski. Alma led 42-37 at the break thanks, in part, to 12 Buccaneer turnovers and 14 points scored off of them.

Alma also cooled off Beloit's shooting in the second half. After making six of his seven threes in the first half, Polakowski missed his only attempt from deep in the second. As a team, Alma held the Bucs to 45 percent shooting in the second half and forced them into seven more turnovers.

"We came out in the second half with a much better mindset on both ends of the floor," said Head Coach Ryan Clark. "We guarded their shooters much better and offensively we got rolling at a little better pace."

Kleiver came out of the break on fire. He scored 11 of Alma's first 13 points in the second half, including three threes. Beloit closed the gap with a 13-2 run, but when the Bucs got to within two, Kleiver ended the run with a deep three.

"Cole was big attacking the rim to start and got hot up from three in the second half. We again had four guys in double figures which makes us pretty hard to guard when we get that type of balance offensively."

Kleiver had 10 points in the first half on 4-of-7 shooting. He played the entire second half and scored 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 4-of-6 from three.

With two minutes remaining, Kyle Woodruff (Grand Blanc, Mich. / Holly) hit a tough layup to push Alma's lead back to double digits, then drew a charging foul on the other end to all but seal the win. He finished with 11 points.

Ryan Stevens (Lowell, Mich. / Lowell) scored 19 points to go along with seven assists, four steals, three rebounds and one block – all but the assists either tied or set new season-highs.

Steven Harvey (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Forest Hills Eastern) finished with 10 points having made all four of his shots. He, Stevens and Kleiver played 35, 37, and 37 minutes, respectively.

"I'm proud of the way we battled overall and happy to come out on top heading into Christmas break."

The Scots (5-5) enjoy over two weeks off before their next game. They will travel to Hancock, Mich., to take on the Finlandia Lions on Saturday, January 4 at 1:00 p.m.