ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Adrian College men's basketball team hosted the Case Western Reserve University Spartans on Saturday afternoon at the Merillat Sport and Fitness Center. It was a back-and-forth battle and the 1-7 Bulldogs took the 8-1 Spartans to the wire. Adrian's
Kendall Chrismon recorded a career high in points with 17 on the afternoon.
Case Western began the scoring to take a 2-0 lead, but Adrian was in control early.
Andrew Larson made a layup and drew the foul to lead 11-7 with three minutes played. The Bulldogs kept the scoring going taking a five point lead with 11:30 remaining in the first half with the help of six points from
James Clay and five from
Kendall Chrismon during the run. The Spartans went on to grab the lead by six after sparking an 11-0 run that was shortly broken by a layup from
Connor Pelham. The Bulldogs responded with a 9-2 run to regain the lead at 31-30 of a three from Pelham and a layup from
De'Ovion Price. After another run by Case Western, Chrismon hit a three to bring the score to 38-37 with a minute to play in the half, but the Spartans scored the final four points of the half to head into the break with a 42-37 lead.
It was a back-and-forth battle to begin the second half as Adrian made it a three point game. During the first three minutes of the second half, Pelham added four points while
Robert Warrick, Price, and Larson collected two each to trail 50-47. Case Western hit back-to-back three pointed to lead by eight marking the largest lead of the night, but Chrismon and
P'hariz Watkins combined for seven points over the next minute to make it 68-65 Spartans. Pelham and Warrick added nine points over the next two and a half minutes to make it a one-point game which was shortly followed by a Chrismon three ball to regain the lead a 77-75 for the first time since the first half with 8:23 to go.
Case Western regained the lead with six minutes to go, but the Bulldogs didn't go away yet. Pelham hit a jumper with 3:47 to go to trail 87-85. The Spartans went on an 8-2 run to lead 95-87 with 1:22 to go, but
Robert Warrick kept the hopes alive with a three to make it 95-90. Late in the game, Adrian was forced to foul and allow the Spartans to grab the 98-90 win.
Chrismon finished with a career high 17 points behind 20 points from Pelham. Warrick finished with 15, and Price finished with 13. The Bulldogs finished the game with 52 points in the paint while Case Western finished with 40.
Adrian's next game will be on the road at Lourdes University on Wednesday, December 15 at 5:00 PM before the team heads home for the holiday and return on the 29th of December for the Bluffton Holiday Tournament.
