Men’s Basketball Team Falls to Kalamazoo, 72-65

KALAMAZOO, MI. -- The Olivet College men's basketball team fell to Kalamazoo College, 72-65, tonight at the Anderson Athletic Center.

In the first half, the Fighting Comets (10-7, 2-2 MIAA) led by seven points at 16-9 at the 12:12 mark when sophomore center Derek Cox (Niles High School) made a layup. The Hornets then battled back and took their own seven point lead (31-24) with four minutes remaining.

Olivet closed the gap to one point with 10 minutes left in the game. Kalamazoo then extended its lead to nine points on two occasions. The Comets cut the deficit to three points with 22 seconds left before the Hornets scored the final four points of the contest.

Senior forward Michael Dyson (Kalamazoo/Loy Norrix High School) scored a team-high 13 points. Junior guard Matt Brawley (Niles High School) contributed 12 points. Junior guard Travis Schellhammer (Grand Ledge High School) and sophomore guard Will Lee (Lansing Everett High School) also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Dirk Rhinehart paced the Hornets (12-3, 2-2) with a game-high 24 points. Erik Rhinehart added 13 points and Nathan Burns had 12 points. Kevin Baird grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

Olivet will next be in action on Saturday, Jan. 25 when it travels to Holland to play Hope College at 3 p.m.