Men’s basketball team comes from behind to beat Alma, 88-86

ALMA, Mich. – The Olivet College men's basketball team came back from a 19-point halftime deficit to beat Alma College, 88-86, this afternoon at Art Smith Arena in Alma. Freshman Paul Lombard (New Era/Montague) completed the come back with a layup to put Olivet ahead 87-86 with 37 seconds left, and freshman Marquis Childers (Muskegon Heights) made a free throw with seven seconds left to secure the win.

There were two tied scores and eight lead changes in the first 11 minutes and 14 seconds of the game. Alma led 25-24 before outscoring the Comets, 31-13, to take a 56-37 into locker rooms. Olivet trailed by as many as 18 points on two occasions in the second half, with the last time being 67-49, at the 13:30 mark.

Olivet then went on a 25-8 run to trail by just one point, 75-74, until six minutes remained. The Scots stretched their lead back to five points, 86-81, with 2:45 left when Cory Schneider made his fifth 3-pointer of the game. The Comets made the score 86-83 after junior Alvino Ashley (Detroit/MLK) hit two foul shots.

Alma turned the ball over on its next possession. Ashley cut the Scots' lead to one when he made a layup with 1:32 left. Another turnover for Alma gave Olivet the ball back with less than one minute left.  Olivet called timeout with 51 seconds remaining, which then led to the go-ahead basket by Lombard.

The Scots called a timeout to set-up a final play. Tommy Erickson missed a layup, and Lombard grabbed the defensive rebound. Childers was fouled. He made the first free throw and missed the second. Time ran out before Alma was able to get a shot off.

For the game, the Comets shot a season-best 47.2 percent (34-of-78) from the floor and made 18-of-22 free throws (81.8 percent). Olivet also committed a season-low six turnovers. Ashley led all players with 36 points and 10 rebounds. Lombard joined him in double figures with 15 points. Freshman Dylan Roe (Traverse City/Central) was a spark off the bench with 14, while senior Jaren Edsall (Whitehall) scored 13.

Alma had four starters reach double figures in the scoring column. Erickson led the way with 19, while Schneider had 17. Greg Silverthorn and Brandon Krause finished with 13 and 11, respectively. Schneider also grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds.

The Comets host Adrian College next Wednesday, Feb. 8. Tip-off from inside The Cutler Event Center is 7:30 p.m.