KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Adrian College men's basketball team traveled to Kalamazoo College for their final conference game of the regular season as well as fighting for a spot in the MIAA conference tournament. The Bulldogs never wavered as they would erase an 18-point difference to win against the Hornets, 66-65.
In the first half of action, it was a back-and-forth contest as it was all knotted up at 12 with 15 minutes left in the first half. A big first half from Gabriel Sharp on Kalamazoo gave the Hornets some momentum heading into the halftime break. Adrian would look to respond in the second half as they would go into the locker room down by nine, 36-27. The Bulldogs would be 44% from the floor and go 4-11 from the three-point line.
The Hornets got off to a great start in the second half by gaining an 18-point advantage with just under 16 minutes to go after three Sharp free throws. A layup by
Nick Seifert stopped the bleeding, and with the season on the line the Bulldogs never looked back. Combined with stifling defense and elite ball movement Adrian would go on a 26-7 run to take a one-point lead with just under nine minutes to go.
Josh Rechsteiner from deep would bury three three-pointers as
Josh Jordan and
Nick Seifert would control the paint in the run. With it all tied up with four minutes to play a layup by Jordan would give Adrian a two-point advantage. Kalamazoo would answer with a three-pointer of their own to take the lead back with under two-minutes in the second half. A back-and-forth possession battle in the last two minutes would end with a Seifert pull-up jump shot to win the game with 15 seconds. The Bulldogs shot 65.4% from the floor and 4-10 from beyond the arc in the last twenty minutes of play.
Seifert with a career-high 25 points played all, but one minute in the game would go 10-13 from the floor. Rechsteiner would add 11 with three assists as Jordan would grab a team-high seven rebounds.
Adrian will travel to Alma College on Tuesday, February 20 for an MIAA Quarterfinal matchup.
