ALMA, Mich. – Closing out the non-conference home slate for 2025, the Alma College men's basketball team welcomed the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday, December 20th. The Scots ran into another team that was find their touch from deep and were clipped by the Warhawks to a final score of 90-61.
Alma opened the game with a three from Donovan Collins, taking the first lead of the game. Whitewater replied with an and-one to tie the game and added another basket to take their first lead of the game. For every make by the Scots on offense, the Warhawks would tally a make on their side and add another to keep Alma at a two-possession distance. Down by six, Alma saw two three-pointers made by Collins and Elijah Sykes to tie the game at 17's with eight minutes remaining in the first. Luciano Guerrazzi gave Alma their second lead of the game for a short period with a made driving layup on a fast break. An 11-2 run by Whitewater gave the visitors another multiple possession lead over a several minute span. Alma was able to keep within reach and stay within striking distance as the clock ticked down for the first half. Whitewater would go into the half leading the Scots 42-32.
Trading three's out of the break, Whitewater appeared to look as if they would go on a run to increase their lead, but the Scots snapped out of a quick drought and brought the score differential back to where it started at the half. The Warhawks were able to add a couple baskets onto their lead and hold onto it for a portion of the half, hoovering between 16-21 points. The Scots offense would make good strides and find ways to continue to score just to be negated and canceled out by the Warhawks, providing a difficult comeback bid as time would race against the home team. Whitewater took the largest lead of the game in the final possession scoring a three with seconds remaining to bring the final score to 90-61.
Collins proved to find his edge and led the Scots in scoring with 17 on 50% shooting, including 5-9 from beyond the arc. Korbin Heitzman also reached double digits with 14 points, complimented by a game-high and career-high 16 rebounds, including five offensively. Heitzman's double-double is his third of the season and career. Joss Bradley added four assists for Alma along with three points. Whitewater ended the game shooting 58% from three compared to the Scots 37.5%.
Alma will now have the next week off before returning to gameplay on December 30th, where they will travel to Bexley, Ohio to take on Capital University. Tipoff is slated for 2:00 PM on Tuesday.
