ALMA, Mich. – The Alma College men's basketball team returned to action on Saturday, December 16th, inside Art Smith Arena, with a mid-day matchup against Defiance College. The Scots broke out a sizable lead early and fought through a wave of hot shooting from the Yellow Jackets as they came away with a victory, 84-75.
Alma would knock down the first basket of the game on a Gabe Bourdeau jumper in the paint to open the scoring. Defiance followed up quickly with a basket of their own tying the game at two's, the only time the Yellow Jackets were tied with the Scots. Tyshaun Walker would start the Scots charge to pull away with a three on a pass from Bourdeau. The Walker three then led to the Scots piecing together a 19-0 run from the 18-minute mark to just under 10 minutes left in the first half. Defiance was able to break their eight-minute scoreless drought on a free-throw make then cut into the Scots lead with a transition dunk, catching Alma off guard. The next possessions, both teams would trade scores before a quick 13-0 run was put together again by the Scots with Paul Gadde knocking down three triples in less than two minutes. In the final ticks of the first half, both teams again traded baskets hoovering around a 20-point lead for the Scots. Both teams went into halftime with Alma leading 46-25.
Exiting the break, Alma again knocked down the first basket of the second half on a layup from Colton Meister before the Yellow Jackets got their offense clicking. Alma's offense stayed present in the early minutes of the half and kept finding ways to score to maintain a lead over a Defiance team that was now finding life on the offensive side of the floor. Alma was then caught in a slump as the Yellow Jackets found some hot hands behind the arc making five three-pointers during a 16-2 run over the Scots bringing them to within four. Alma was able to wake the offense back up and start converting on chances again though Defiance's hot shooting was still lurking. Between six minutes through to about three minutes left in the game, Alma's lead was bouncing between one to two possessions, with their smallest being up by three. Defiance then scored their final basket of the game with 3:29 remaining and Alma was able to tack on six more points to ensure a victory over a team that found success from deep in the second half. The Scots finished the win with a score of 84-75.
Leading the scoring for the Scots was Meister with 21 points on the night. Conner Riley and Gadde both were the next highest scorers, each recording 13. The Scots had four players in the double-digits for points in the game as Walker registered 12. Riley led Alma in rebounds with nine, just one short of another double-double on the season. Walker recorded six assists in the game, almost half of Alma's 14 total. In Gadde's career-high night, he was solid from behind the arc, shooting 3-5 from deep. The Scots were able to capitalize on the Yellow Jacket turnovers as they scored 24 points compared to Defiance's nine off turnovers.
Alma will now have time off for the holidays before returning to action in St. Petersburg, Florida, at Eckerd College for two games on the weekend. The Scots will open their Florida trip with a game against Mount St. Mary's (NY) on Friday, December 29th at 3:00 PM. They will then conclude the trip with a matchup against Spalding University on Saturday, December 30th, at 1:00 PM before heading into conference play.
