ALMA, Mich. -- The Adrian College men's basketball team came up short as they looked to sweep the series against Alma on Wednesday night as the Bulldogs fell to the Scots 78-75. Adrian still sits in the fifth place spot in the current MIAA standings by half a game with a 4-9 record. Adrian trailed by ten at halftime on Wednesday, but battled back to a take a late lead, but after Alma response the last second shot didn't go giving the Scots the lead.
Adrian came out slow to start the game going down a quick 5-0 deficit. The Bulldogs went on a 17-0 run to jump up 20-17 with 12:31 to go in the first half. During the run,
Connor Pelham,
Andrew Larson,
Kendall Chrismon,
Nolan Ansara,
Nick Seifert, and
P'hariz Watkins contributed points. After Adrian led 24-12 with 8:48 left in the half, back came Scots who sparked a large run of their own finishing the first have on a 26-4 run to lead 38-28 at the break.
Alma picked up where they left off to lead by as many as 17 with 16:14 left to go. Adrian was able to cut into the lead slightly, but the Scots put the lead back to 17 with 9:50 to play. After eliminated the deficit over the next seven minutes and tied the game at 72-72 with 2:36 to play on a three-pointer by
De'Ovion Price. to spark the run earlier in the half, Ansara knocked down back-to-back three balls to give Adrian some life. The Bulldogs took a 74-72 lead after layup from Larson with time winding down, but the Scots went on to respond. With 11 seconds left on the clock, the Scots went up three, and Adrian couldn't knock down the deep ball to force overtime resulting in a 78-75 Alma victory.
Jalen Paul broke the Adrian College men's basketball single season record for most assists as he came in to tonight's game tied with 146. Price led Adrian in scoring with 25 points followed by 13 from Pelham, and 11 from Larson.
Adrian returns to action on Saturday, February 19 in the team's regular season finale against Trine University at the Merillat Sport and Fitness Center. Prior to Saturday's 3:00 PM tip-off, the Bulldogs will honor it's senior class during a pregame ceremony.
