ALBION, Mich. – The Alma College men's basketball scored a much-needed conference road victory over the Albion Britons on Wednesday, January 17th. The Scots fell down to the Britons at half but came back and held on in overtime for an 81-75 final score.
The Britons would score the first points of the game before Alma would regain the lead shortly after from Nolan Boffman and Tyshaun Walker makes. Four minutes into the game, Alma took a three-point lead from a Connor Riley layup before the Britons would regain the lead for the rest of the first half. Albion would extend their lead to six halfway through the half, but Alma would chip away and bring it back down to one-possession. Again, the Britons would put together a run on offense and take a seven-point lead but the Scots would not back down. Alma would bring the deficit down to four with just a couple minutes remaining in the opening half before they would head into the locker rooms during the break trailing, 34-29.
The Scots would cause chaos for the Britons in the early ticks of the second half, causing turnovers and cutting into the Britons lead. Albion would open the second half scoreless from the field for the first three minutes, enough time for Alma to tie the game and create for an exciting finish. Albion would slow the game down and get their offense back on track to take a two-possession lead five minutes in. Donovan Collins would knock down his first of two three-pointers in the second half to tie the game at 41 apiece with just under fourteen minutes left to play. Collins would then hit another just a minute later to give Alma their first lead since the opening frame. Both squads would trade offensive buckets and the lead for several minutes following Collins make before Alma would extend take and extend the lead. With 6:30 remaining, Alma extended the lead to two-possessions and would hold onto the lead until the final shot. With just under three minutes left to play, the Britons trailed the Scots by six, needing some stops and quick baskets to have a chance to force extra time. Late free-throw makes from the Britons chipped away with the clock stopped and proved to be the difference in a game that may have ended before the second half buzzer. A last second alley oop type of play found its way to the bottom of the basket for the Britons and called for extra time in he contest.
The overtime period proved to be all Scots as Alma would hold the Britons scoreless from the field until the final 30 seconds of the extra time as Albion would only score from the line in the first 4:30. Colton Meister came to life in overtime as he would score back-to-back layups, giving the Scots some breathing room as time ticked away. The Scots would knock down clutch free-throws in the final minutes as the Scots would leave Albion back in the win column in conference play, winning 81-75.
Walker would lead the Scots in points and rebounds with 22 and seven in each category. Riley dished out five assists for a team-high and Meister recorded four blocks in the game. Boffman got back on track in the steal's column with five in the game to lead all players. The Scots were able to cause the Britons to turn the ball over 19 times, scoring 26 points off of those turnovers.
Alma will now travel to Grand Rapids this weekend for a match up against the Knights of Cavin University on Saturday, January 20th. Tipoff is set for 3:00 PM inside Van Noord Arena.
