ALMA, Mich. – The Alma College men's basketball team ended thanksgiving break with a home game against Ohio Northern University on Saturday, November 25th. The Scots were defeated by the Polar Bears by a final score of 69-63.
ONU kicked off the game with an opening play basket to put points on the board, but Alma came right back down the court and knocked down a three-pointer from Gabe Bourdeau to open the scoring for the Scots. The Polar Bears would then string together several baskets to take a two-possession lead before Landen Moore-Pierce knocked down a three as well to bring the Scots within two in the opening minutes. Ohio Northern would hold a steady lead over the Scots throughout a portion of the first half before Alma started to click and tighten the game back up. With just over five minutes left in the first half, ONU took a 13-point lead, limiting the Scots on offense. Alma would get the job done in the paint moving forward as they went on a 9-0 run scoring all of their points in the paint plus an and-one free throw by Colton Meister. Ohio Northern would continue to try and extend their lead but the Scots were able to hang around in the final minutes of the half. Connor Riley and Bourdeau would tally the final baskets of the half for the Scots before heading into the half only down two possessions, 34-28.
Alma was able to close the gap coming out of the break early as the first two possessions saw layups good by Riley and Nolan Boffman to bring it to a two-point game. Each team would trade baskets for the next several minutes before a quick 6-0 run gave Alma the lead again with baskets from Xavier Glenn Jr., Riley, and Bourdeau. As the lead traded back and forth through the middle of the second half, Boffman was able to anticipate where the ball was going and record his eighth steal of the game, beating the record he tied with Jeff Hosler three games ago to now take sole possession of the all-time single game steals record. Boffman now has 21 steals on the season in just six games. After the steals, in a tight game, Alma was able to take a three-point lead with six minutes remaining. The Polar Bears then strung together a 6-0 run of their own to take a three-point lead heading down to the final minutes of play inside Art Smith Arena. Alma would continue to match baskets by ONU and stay within two points for the next two minutes, but Ohio Northern was able to stretch their lead to four with 30 seconds left on the clock. The Scots would battle and get shots off in the final 30 but free-throws at the other end would put the game away as the Scots were downed to ONU, 69-63.
Leading the Scots in points was Riley with 20 for the game and Glenn Jr had his career high with 13 following behind. Meister led the Scots in the rebounding department with six for the game, as Boffman led all players with eight steals and Riley collected three assists. The Scots were able to score 20 points off of turnovers, ten more than Ohio Northern as well as Alma scored 46 points in the paint which was 12 more than the Polar Bears.
Alma will now look towards next week as they will travel to Saginaw to play in an exhibition game against the Cardinals of Saginaw Valley State University. Game time is set for 7:00 PM
