RIVER FOREST, Ill. – The Alma College men's basketball program got out to its biggest halftime advantage in almost three years and put the game into cruise control from there as the Scots dimmed the Dominican (Illinois) Stars in an 87-58 triumph.
The 29-point margin of victory is the largest by the team since January 3, 2018 when the Maroon and Teal pummeled Kalamazoo, 78-43, thanks in primarily to making just under 58% of their shots (37-of-64, 57.8%) and 42% from deep (8-of-19).
The Basics:
- Score
- Alma – 87
- Dominican (Illinois) – 58
- Records
- Alma (1-1, 0-0 Michigan)
- Dominican-Illinois (1-1, 0-0 Northern)
- Winning Streak
- Scots (W1) / Stars' Last Win: N/A
How It Happened:
The Scots spotted the Stars the first two points of the evening and then went straight to work, scoring the next 16 points unanswered over the opening seven minutes of the ballgame. A milestone three-pointer by
Donovan Collins with 9:08 remaining in the half ballooned the lead to its highest of the period, putting Alma up by 21 at 25-4. Dominican (Illinois) attempted to start a comeback by rattling off nine in-a-row, cutting the deficit down to a dozen (25-13), but the hot-shooting visitors finished the half shooting 53.3% (16-for-30) while nearly doubling up DU the rest of the way for a commanding 38-20 lead at the break.
The final 20 minutes started out with neither side breaking through as Alma upped its edge by two after approximately five minutes (49-30). Dominican caught some wind by dropping nine of the next 11 to close things to a dozen once again (51-39), but a 14-2 surge that included nine consecutive points by the Scots essentially put the contest out of reach by the midway point, 65-41 with 10:01 left. The visitors from Michigan kept their foot on the throttle, coasting to a statement making 87-58 win.
Scots' Top Performers:
Luciano Guerrazzi was borderline unstoppable in the paint on both ends of the floor, posting career-highs across the board with a game-best 18 points, 15 rebounds, two blocks, and a 9-of-11 (81.8%) shooting performance that saw the big man register his first collegiate double-double.
Joss Bradley stuffed the stat sheet as well, appearing in every category minus blocked shots as he compiled 14 points on 5-for-8 (62.5%), a contest-most six assists and four steals, along with a quartet of boards.
Adam Dugener followed up his otherworldly Alma debut with a solid ten points, earning his first start as a Scot in the process.
Elijah Sykes tied his personal benchmark of five dimes, producing 12 points in just 19 minutes off the pine whereas Collins rose to sixth place on the school's all-time three-pointers leaderboard, breaking the tie previously held with Greg Silverthorn (2009-2013) as he now boasts 172.
Next:
AC will cross the street and make the merely half-mile journey to Concordia-Chicago on Saturday night at 6 p.m. in search of a weekend sweep on the westside of the Chicago suburbs.
Follow the men's basketball program on Twitter/X (
@AlmaScotsMBB) and Instagram (
@AlmaScotsMBB).
Follow the Scots on Facebook (
@AlmaCollegeScots), Twitter/X (
@AlmaScots), Instagram (
@AlmaCollegeScots).
#GoScots
