ALMA, Mich. – The Alma College men's basketball team faced off versus Kenyon College on Saturday, December 17th. The Scots dropped a nail-biter to the Owls by a final score of 74-72.

Alma came out of the gates ready to play, starting with a Tyshaun Walker three to open the scoring and put the Scots on top early. Kenyon connected on a couple shots, but the Scots held the Owls to six points in the first ten minutes of game play. Halfway through the first half, Alma built up a 22-6 lead and looked to hold onto it. The Owls chipped away at the lead to get within ten, but the Scots responded with two quick buckets, including a three from Aidan Judsen, making the score 29-14. After a timeout, both teams traded baskets and ended the first half with Alma leading 39-21.

Coming out of the half, Kenyon came out to a 12-3 run to tighten the game up with the Scots. Landen Moore-Pierce took the reigns and knocked down three consecutive three-pointers to help regain the lead. Kenyon wouldn't back down, and Alma battled hard throughout the second half to hold onto their lead. Both teams were getting stops and converting baskets on offense, but neither could string enough together consecutively to make a large enough swing. With seven minutes remaining, Keyon brought it to within one score and both offenses found ways to get hard-fought baskets. Kenyon gained their first lead of the game with five minutes remaining in the second frame, but a layup by Connor Riley regained the lead for Alma. Each team then traded the lead for the next four minutes until the game was tied at 72-72 with less than a minute remaining. In the final seconds of the game, Miles Versa for Kenyon converted a layup to put the Owls up two. Alma had five seconds remaining to try to tie the game and ultimately fell to the Owls by a single possession.

Moore-Pierce led the scoring for the Scots with 19 points for the evening while shooting fifty-precent from behind the arc. Walker finished behind with 13 points of his own. Moore-Pierce also collected the most rebounds on the team with six and Xavier Glenn Jr. and Riley each had a team-high three assists.

Alma will return to action on Monday, December 19th, when they travel to Wittenberg University (OH) to compete in the Wittenberg Holiday Classic. Alma will face off against Wittenberg University at 7:00 p.m.

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Story Credit: Eli Pinter, Sports Information Student Supervisor