Men’s basketball team hangs on to beat Hanover, 91-87

OLIVET, Mich. – Four starters scored in double figures, as the Olivet College men's basketball team hung on to beat Hanover (Ind.) College, 91-87, this afternoon inside the Cutler Event Center.

Final Score: Olivet 91, Hanover 87
Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
Records: Hanover 7-2 overall, Olivet 3-4 overall

• The Comets scored the first six points of the game. The Panthers chipped away at their deficit and eventually took their own six-point lead, 23-17, at the 11:46 mark. From that point, there were six lead changes and two tied scores.
• After a 32-32 deadlock with 6:31 before halftime, the Comets went on an 8-0 run over the next three minutes. Olivet led one more time by eight points, 42-34. The Panthers made the last basket of the half to trail by six points, 42-36, at the intermission.
• Olivet extended its lead back to eight points by scoring the first basket of the second half. Hanover came back with an 11-3 run to level the score at 47-47. The Comets responded with an 18-2 run to gain their largest lead of the game, 65-49, at the 11:14 mark.
• The Panthers cut their deficit in half, 69-61, with 7:05 left in the game. Olivet pushed its advantage back to 13 points, 76-63. Hanover did not give up and closed the gap to four points in with under a minute left. The Comets made 11-of-12 free throws in the final 56.1 seconds to seal their win.

• Olivet posted season-bests in all three shooting percentages – 53.3 percent total field goals (32-of-60), 50 percent from behind the arc (10-of-20) and 85 percent from the free throw line (17-of-20). The Comets also had +2 advantage in rebounding, 37 to 35.
• Senior Eddie Thigpen recorded his first double-double of the season, leading all players with 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds.
• Senior Derrick Johnson scored 16 points, with four three-pointers.
• Senior Tevin Ali had 16 points and nine rebounds.
• Senior Dane Vos rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points.
• Junior Noah Wiswary scored seven points on 7-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe. He also had seven assists and did not commit a turnover in 32 minutes.

• "We certainly gave the fans some excitement today," said Olivet head men's basketball coach Sam Hargraves. "No matter how we won this game, I'll take it. To be a quality and well-coached team like Hanvoer is huge for where we are in our program. It's not easy to win a college basketball game ever, especially against a really good team. I was happy we were able to build a second-half lead that we did. Obviously, we need to learn how to finish better. We now look forward to another great challenge tomorrow against another outstanding team."

• The Panthers shot 47.4 percent (36-of-76) from the floor, including 32 percent (8-of-25) from distance, and 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from the free throw line.
• Max Greenamoyer registered a team-leading 19 points.
• Ty Houston and Matt Munoz contributed 15 and 14 points, respectively.
• Greenamoyer and Issac Hibbard grabbed five rebounds apice.

• Olivet hosts North Central (Ill.) College tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m.