ALMA MEN'S HOOPS DEFEATS OLIVET 69-66
On Saturday, the Alma’s Men’s hoops team traveled to Olivet, to take on the MIAA rival Comets and walked away with a hard-fought 69-66 victory. The Scots improved to 3-3 in the MIAA and will now host Albion College on Wednesday evening, with tip-off scheduled for 8:00 p.m. at Cappaert Gymnasium.
The first half of the game ended with Olivet clinging to a 28-26 lead in a first 20 minutes which saw seven lead changes. Alma had their biggest lead at 12-9 when So. G Jordan Redditt (Brighton, MI/Jesuit) hit a lay-up at the 14:58 mark, while the Comets reached their zenith at an eight-point margin, 24-16, with 9:02 left in the half. When Jr. C Isaac Thaler (Middleville, MI/Thornapple-Kellogg) made good on a lay-up at the 2:13 mark, the teams had reached the first half score.
In the first frame, each team hit exactly 11-29 of the their shots from the field (38%) which is a statistical oddity, but the Comets hit one more three-pointer and one more free throw to achieve the two-point lead. Olivet threw up 15 threes in the half, hitting on two, while Alma was one of six.
After three tie scores and nine lead changes to start the second half, Olivet took a 45-44 advantage midway through the final frame. They rode the lead for three minutes until Redditt hit a three and Sr. F Matt Brown (Midland, MI/Midland) hit two free throws to make it a 54-52 Alma lead with 7:06 remaining.
Alma was able to increase their lead to five at 57-52, but this game was going to go down to the wire. Olivet fought back, tied the game and went ahead, 60-59, after two free throws at the 4:07 mark. After Redditt made another lay-up, the Scots got the lead back up to four, but the Comets, a resiliant bunch, tied it at 64-64 with just 1:03 left in the game.
A trey by Fr. G Cory Schneider (Carson City, MI/Carson City) made it 67-64, with a half minute left, but the Comets just kept coming and made it 67-66, with a mere 12 seconds remaining. Olivet was in a position to have to foul. After they did, Schneider drained two from the charity stripe for a three-point lead with eight seconds left.
After a time-out, the Comets had one last chance, but a three-point attempt by Andre Evans came up short, and the Scots were on their way back to Alma, with what they hope is a season defining victory.
Offensively, Redditt led the way with 19 points, but the Scots had three others that notched double-figures in scoring. Schneider had 14 points, while Sr. F Ryan DeHaan (Rockford, MI/Rockford) contributed 12 of his own and Brown finished with 10. DeHaan had a huge day on the boards, finishing with 12 rebounds and also had a team-high three assists.
The Scots outrebounded the bigger Comets by a 34-32 margin and defensively limited Olivet to just 3 of 26 shooting from beyond the arc, 12% for the game. Alma finished the game with six three pointers, five in the second half, and finished with just 12 turnovers.
Posted: Sat, January 24th, 2009 at 4:45PM
