Olivet, Mich. - The Alma College men's basketball team fell 91-89 to Olivet College on Saturday (Jan. 18) evening on a buzzer-beater by Jared Long. The game was Alma's first against Sam Hargraves, who coached the Scots for eight seasons.

Long hit the game-winning layup with 0.3 seconds left. The shot came after Cole Kleiver (Williamston, Mich. / Williamston) tied the game at 89 with a contested layup.

The game was even throughout, both on the court and in the box score. Both teams shot 48 percent; there were 11 ties and eight lead changes; and Olivet's 12-point lead was the largest of the game and it lasted for 15 seconds.

Zach Sinke (Grand Haven, Mich. / Grand Haven) had the best game as a Scot, leading Alma (7-8, 1-3 MIAA) with 28 points and seven rebounds on 11-of-18 shooting in 28 minutes. All but the minutes were career-highs.

Ryan Stevens (Lowell, Mich. / Lowell) became the 15th player in program history to eclipse the 1,000 point mark. He scored 16 points and added five assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Kleiver had 24 points and four boards. He also scored Alma's last five points.

With the game tied at 84, Sinke found Kleiver for an open layup on which Kleiver drew a foul. He converted the and-1 to put Alma up by three with 1:35 left.

A three from Eddie Thigpen tied the game at 87 with just over a minute to play. After a miss by Kleiver, Shawn Pardee hit a pull-up shot from the elbow to give the Comets a two-point lead with 19 seconds remaining.

After an Alma timeout, Kleiver got the bigger Thigpen switched on him. He crossed Thigpen up and hit a tough driving layup over a defender with six seconds left.

Olivet (4-11, 1-3 MIAA) was quick to get the ball down the court. Britton Angell found Long for the game-winning layup.

Alma struggled from behind the arc, making only five of its 22 threes. Instead, it was powerful in the post, scoring 56 points in the paint to Olivet's 34.

The Scots' next game is on Wednesday (Jan. 22) when they welcome Calvin University to Art Smith Arena. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.