ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Alma College men's basketball team rounded out their Florida games on Saturday, December 30th, with a matchup against Spalding University from the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC). The Scots held a lead for a majority of the game but the Golden Eagles found a way to slow down the Alma offense in the second half and defeat the Scots by a final score of 72-66.
Opening up play, Alma recorded the first points of the game on layups coming from Connor Riley and Tyshaun Walker before the Golden Eagles recorded their first points. The early minutes of the game saw Alma hold a small lead in a back-and-forth contest as both offenses found success early. Spalding would take the lead from the Scots for about three minutes before the Scots would regain it on a layup in the paint by Colton Meister. Alma then held the lead for the next seven minutes by a possession or two before the Golden Eagles took a one-point lead after a shot from behind the arc. The Scots then retook the lead which led to them holding onto it for the rest of the half. The Scots would extend their lead to 11 in the first half following a three pointer from Paul Gadde then shortly after, from a free throw by Meister. Spalding would go on a 6-0 run to end the first half, though Alma went into the locker room leading the Golden Eagles, 39-34.
From the break, Spalding opened the second half with a three to bring the game within two, leading to a competitive game until the final buzzer. An early deep ball from Walker would again extend the Scots lead back to five, giving the Scots a little breathing room moving forward. A quick 7-0 run from Alma extended their lead to 12, with just over 16 minutes left to play, which would be their largest lead of the game. The Golden Eagles responded with a run of their own shortly after as they would hold Alma scoreless and put up nine of their own in two minutes. Spalding got to within three with under 14 minutes left in the second half, but Alma again found a resurgence of offense and pulled slightly away halfway through the final frame. With eight minutes remaining, Spalding pulled to within one but a Riley jumper pushed the Golden Eagles back to three. Again, a quick basket from Spalding brought them to one again before Nolan Boffman would be sent to the line and convert on two free throws, extending the lead back to three. Heading to the final five minutes, Spalding battled back and tied the game with just over three minutes, creating a nail-biter down the stretch. Both teams struggled to score for the next minute before a three pointer would be knocked down from the Golden Eagles, giving them a three-point lead with just over a minute remaining. Free-throws would extend the lead for Spalding and put the game away as the Scots would be held scoreless from the five-minute mark. The Scots split the weekend as they fell to the Golden Eagles 72-66 in the final game in Florida.
Riley scored 18 in the game, leading Alma in scoring as Walker tallied 13 as the second-highest scorer for the Scots. Walker led the Scots rebounding with eight, three of which coming offensively. Riley tallied three assists in the game and Meister recorded four blocks for the second straight game. Meister now has four games with 4+ blocks this season. Alma caused Spalding to turn the ball over 15 times in the game, which lead to 26 points scored from those turnovers, ten more than Spalding recorded off turnovers.
Alma has rounded out the non-conference portion will now head into the new year and open up conference play next week at they will host Adrian College in Art Smith Arena on Thursday, January 4th. The game is slated to begin at 7:00 PM on the campus of Alma College.
