ALBION, Mich. – The Adrian College men's basketball team lost by 30 points last year at Kresge Gymnasium and that loss served as extra motivation in a 56-46 win on Saturday at Albion. The Bulldogs rebounded after a tough home loss on Wednesday against league-leading Calvin and are now 3-1 in the conference. It was the second road win of the conference slate (Olivet) for the Bulldogs who are finding their rugged defense since the calendar turned over to January. Adrian is yielding just 55 points per game in four MIAA contests and holding opponents to 36 percent shooting overall and 25 percent behind the arc.

Adrian has now won five of the last seven meetings between themselves and Albion and did so through allowing just 22 points and 20 percent shooting (6-for-30) in the second half. Adrian trailed by a point at intermission, 24-23, but outscored the Britons by 11 in the final 20 minutes. The Bulldogs scored the game's first basket but did not lead again until 8-7 at the 15:02 mark. Adrian increased their lead to 14-7 after a jumper by Gregory Roy with 10 minutes left in the opening half.

Adrian held their lead until two seconds left until the break when Robert Ryan made a pair of free throws to give the Britons a 24-23 lead. Rickey Jackson, Jr. converted the first basket of the second half to put Adrian ahead and Albion later tied it up at 27-27 on a triple by Zach Hurst. It was all Adrian from that point as they led for the rest of the game. Jackson, Jr.'s jumper at the 12:46 mark gave Adrian a 35-28 lead and that lead built to double figures with 2:39 left when Curtis Gordon made a pair of free throws (45-34).

Gordon made another pair of technical free throws and on the next possession it was Jackson, Jr. nailing a dagger triple to extend the lead to 50-34. Gordon would go on to make four more free throws in the final 1:30. Rodak reached 500 career points finishing with 13 to tie Jackson, Jr. for the team high. Rodak made three triples increasing his career total to 71. Jackson, Jr. logged 37 minutes and went 5-for-12 from the floor with five rebounds. Gordon ended with 11 points going 9-for-11 at the charity stripe while also contributing four steals and three assists. Hurth led Albion with 19 points and went 5-for-9 behind the arc. The Bulldogs converted 17-for-19 as a team at the free throw line. Next up for the men's basketball team is a trip to Kalamazoo on Wednesday, Jan. 21 for a 6 p.m. tip against the Hornets (6-9, 1-3 MIAA).