ALMA Mich. – The Alma College men's basketball team hosted the Kalamazoo College Hornets on Wednesday, February 7th, inside Art Smith Arena. The Scots held a lead for a majority of the game though the Hornets would not back down and ultimately beat the Scots by a final score or 74-73.
Alma opened the scoring in the contest with the first two baskets coming in the paint on layups from Connor Riley and Tyshaun Walker. After the Hornets would get on the board, the Scots would string together some offensive makes and extend their lead to eight, just over four minutes into play. Both teams would battle for the next period of time as the lead for Alma would range from four to seven points before the Hornets would tighten the gap and tie the game around the nine-minute mark. Kalamazoo would take their first lead of the contest with nine minutes remaining in the first, but only by one. After trading the lead for a couple minutes, the Scots would again retake the lead and extend it to four with just under four minutes left in the half. Nearing the end of the first half, Kalamazoo would tighten the game once again, but Alma would score the last points of the half and take a three-point lead into the break, 39-36.
Beginning the second half, the Scots looked to extend their lead and try to out the Hornets away early even though the Hornets came out ready to fight until the final buzzer. The Hornets retied the game with 16 minutes left at 44 apiece, before taking a one-possession lead again. The Scots would keep within the Hornets and quickly take the lead back, but only extending it to four points. Again, the game would be tied with ten minutes remaining in regulation but the Scots fought back and held onto it heading into the final stretch. With just under five minutes remaining to play, Alma would stretch their lead to five, hoping it would be enough to add a basket or two to it and put the game away. Less than a minute later though, the Hornets knocked down two three pointers and a basket in the paint to take the lead away from the Scots. Alma again fought through the adversity and took the lead by three with just around two minutes remaining, trying to hold on until the final buzzer. Late threes from the Hornets proved to be the turning point as Kalamazoo would tie the game with another three before converting on one of two free throws with 3.4 seconds left on the clock, taking a one-point lead. The Scots were able to inbound the ball and get a shot off before the horn sounded, but the ball bounced around the rim and out as the Hornets held on for the win, 74-73.
The Scots saw a large portion of the scoring come from the Walker and Riley duo as the two combined for 53 points, each scoring over 25. Riley would lead the Scots with nine rebounds and Walker was one behind with eight. Walker collected four assists on the night in a game that saw 15 lead changes and 11 ties throughout.
Alma will now hit the road until the season finale as they will travel to Holland this upcoming weekend for a date with the Flying Dutchmen of Hope College. The game is set to start at 3:00 Pm inside the Devos Fieldhouse, on the campus of Hope College.
