Pearson named tournament MVP

Senior Will Lee (Lansing/Everett) came off the bench to score 22 points as the men's basketball team defeated Westminster (Pa.) College, 105-96, this evening in the championship game of the annual Buzz Ridl Classic. For his efforts, senior Ronnie Pearson (Holly) was selected as the Tournament Most Valuable Player. Lee joined him on the all-tourney team.

In the first half, Westminster led by as many as 14 points on two occasions with the last time being 28-14 at the 11:17 mark. The Comets battled back to cut the deficit to just three points twice, including 46-43 with 2:21 left before halftime. The Titans stretched their lead back to 10 points after the first 20 minutes of play

Westminster led for most of the second half until the 2:26 mark when junior Greg Ravy (New Orleans, La./L.B. Landry) made a layup to give the Comets their first lead of the game at 95-94. Olivet outscored the Titans, 11-2, in the final 2:26

Pearson joined Lee in double figure scoring with 20 points. Ravy contributed 15 points followed by junior Gerald Dozie (Detroit/Southeastern) with 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds

For the game, the Comets outrebounded Westminster, 66-37. Olivet shot a sizzling 58.1 percent (43-of-74) from the floor compared to 38.8 percent (33-of-85) for Westminster. The Titans were 14-of-49 from behind the three-point arc.

Olivet returns to Michigan and will travel to play Concordia University Tuesday Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m.