Feb. 20, 2010

Final Stats

ALBION, Mich. - The men's basketball team finished the regular season on Saturday night with a 64-46 loss at Albion. The Bulldogs found Kresge Gymnasium to be a tough place to score as they shot 11-for-46 from the field (23.9 percent). The team had more success at the free throw line going 23-for-25 (92 percent). It was the best game of the season in terms of percentage at the charity stripe.

The defense on both ends of the floor was stout in the first 10 minutes as the teams were tied at 6-6. Albion went on a 7-0 run from 8:28 to 6:05 of the first half to take a 15-8 lead. The Bulldogs were down 17-15 at the 3:18 mark but Albion went on another 7-0 run to make it 24-15 with 1:42 left in the half. Adrian trailed 24-19 at halftime and were still competitive despite Albion shooting 40 percent compared to 19 percent for Adrian.

The Bulldogs cut the lead to three at 25-22 at the 17:12 mark but Albion once again extended their lead to eight at 30-22 with 15:50 left in the contest. The Britons were holding onto a 34-29 lead with 12:53 to play when they went on a 9-0 run which doomed the Bulldogs. Albion led 43-29 with 9:26 left as Chris Farr made a pair of field goals followed by a Kyle Cameron jumper, a Chris Hutton two-pointer and a J.C. Cruse free throw.

Adrian could simply not break out of their funk and did not close the gap under 11 points for the rest of the game. Adrian did shoot 28 percent in the second half. They were also 1-for-13 from behind the arc during the game. Wesley Reed led Adrian with 14 points and went 4-for-9 from the floor and 5-for-6 at the foul line. Blair Ramsey scored 10 points with two field goals and a 6-for-6 stint at the foul line. The team was without senior Matt Wayne and was outrebounded, 40-31, in the process. Cruse had a huge contribution for the Britons with 26 points. He was 11-for-12 from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds in 29 minutes.

Adrian finishes third in the MIAA with a conference record of 9-5. They will tip-off with Kalamazoo on Wednesday, Feb. 24 in the opening round of the MIAA Tournament at the Merillat Center.