ALBION, Mich. – On the road for the sixth time in their last seven games, the Alma College men's basketball team traveled south for a tip off against the Albion College Britons on Wednesday, January 21st. The Scots were taken down by the Britons by a final score of 87-60.
Alma jumped out to the first lead of the game with a Joss Bradley layup to open the scoring. The Scots tacked on three more points coming from Korbin Heitzman, taking a 5-1 lead early in the action. A very brief 8-0 run by the Britons gave them their first lead of the game before Alma responded with a basket by Logan St. Martin, bringing the game to one possession, five minutes into play. Albion's offense started to find success in the middle portion of the first half slowly growing their lead point by point over time. Alma would not be held in check though as the Scots held within a couple possessions throughout a majority of the half. An Albion 9-0 run would put the Scots in the largest deficit of the half to that point, trailing by 13 with just over two minutes left before the break. A late three at the buzzer gave the Britons a 16-point lead going to the locker rooms, with the Scots trailing 40-24.
Looking for a spark to fight back in the contest, Albion limited the Scots scoring chances early on, continuing to add small additions to their lead. Albion reached their second-largest lead of the game with 15 minutes left of action, going up by 26, putting the Scots in a mode that every possession became crucial if Alma wanted to rewrite a new ending to the game. Alma would bring the score back down to the teens with less than ten minutes to play, though the Britons would not let Alma draw any closer in the second half as time ticked away. Albion would be able to put the game away, handing Alma a loss on the road to the tune of 87-60.
Heitzman was the Scots leader on offense reaching his eighth double-double of the season, recording 13 points and 15 rebounds throughout the game. Elijah Sykes added another 12 points and Bradley added ten for Scots players in double-digits. Sykes and Bradley recorded three and two assists, respectively. St. Martin also added three assists and a block in the game as well. Alma outscored the Britons on second-chance points in the game, 9-5, as well as outrebounding the Britons 39-26.
Alma will return to another road conference contest on Saturday, January 24th, as they will travel to Kalamazoo College for a midday weekend matchup. Tip-off is set for 3:00 PM.
