MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Alma College men's basketball program got to compete against a longtime local rival and soak up the atmosphere of playing in an NCAA Division I venue on Friday when the Scots traveled up US-127 South to face Central Michigan University for an exhibition game with the Chippewas taking the matchup, 93-50.
The Basics:
- Score
- Central Michigan – 93
- Alma – 50
- Records
- Alma (0-0, 0-0 Michigan)
- Central Michigan (2-0, 0-0 Mid-American)
- Series History
- Chippewas Lead 80-43 (35%)
- Winning Streak
- Chippewas (W18) / Scots' Last Win: January 11, 1961 (82-67)
How It Happened:
The first four minutes of the night were relatively low-scoring with the first points of the game for the Scots coming courtesy of who else but All-MIAA Second Teamer
Korbin Heitzman on a jumper and
Joss Bradley added a layup as the Chips entered the 16-minute media timeout ahead 5-4.
Elijah Sykes stated that the bank was indeed open on this particular Friday night around 7:10 p.m. as he kissed a three-pointer off the glass to give Alma its first lead coming out of the break, 7-4. CMU would then outscore the visitors 9-5 to retake the advantage at the second TV timeout, 13-12. Unfortunately, the Scots' momentum stalled as they missed their next eight shots amidst a scoring drought of five minutes and 35 seconds to allow the home side to double up the visitors from Alma (24-12). Central Michigan and Alma went back-and-forth from the 7:23 mark (19-11) to halftime as the Chippewas took a 43-23 upper-hand into halftime.
Central registered the first seven points of the second half before a shooter's roll on a floater by Heitzman broke the string (50-25). The Chips rattled off a 21-9 streak over the next eight minutes to pull further away (71-34). Alma showed a strong will and ability to keep fighting, outscoring CMU by seven (12-5) over the next five-plus minutes but the final score ultimately read 93-50 in favor of Central Michigan when the final buzzer sounded.
Scots' Top Performers:
Heitzman led Alma in both scoring (8) and rebounding (6) while shooting 40% from the floor (4-for-10).
Derian Williams, an Alpena CC transfer, came off the bench to tie Heitzman in the points department (8), doing so in just a dozen minutes.
The defensive duo of
Joss Bradley and Luciano Guerrazi snagged a trio of steals apiece to front all players on either side, combining 12 points and ten boards.
Adam Dugener was the lone Scot with multiple assists (2) whereas
Preston Malpass swatted away the only block of the contest for Coach Fitzpatrick's bunch.
Next:
The regular season gets officially underway in Tiffin, Ohio as the Maroon and Teal take on the Student Princes of Heidelberg at 7 p.m. on Monday evening.
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
