Men’s Basketball: Olivet defeated by Elmhurst, 76-64

OLIVET, Mich. – The University of Olivet men's basketball team was on the losing end of a 76-64 final to Elmhurst (Ill.) University this evening inside the Cutler Event Center.

• Final Score: Elmhurst 76, Olivet 64
• Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 2-3 overall, Elmhurst 4-0 overall

• The Bluejays led 14-7 in the first six minutes of the game. The Comets scored six of the next eight points to trail by three, 16-13, at the midpoint of the opening half. Elmhurst pushed its advantage to 16 points before a five straight points by senior Ryan Bart made the score 34-23 with 2:05 left until halftime. The Bluejays netted the final four points of the half to take a 38-23 lead into the locker rooms.
• Elmhurst extended its lead to as many as 22 points twice in the second half. After the last time at 51-29, Olivet used 21-9 to trim the gap to 10 points (60-50) with nine minutes remaining in the game. The Comets did not get any closer for the rest of the game.
• Olivet made one less basket, but drained two more three-pointers, and shot a higher field goal percentage, 45.5 to 41.9, than Elmhurst. The difference in the game was the Bluejays made 16-of-24 free throws compared to 4-of-7 for the Comets. The Comets were outrebounded 41-30, including a 13-3 edge on the offensive glass. Elmhurst also committed six less turnovers, 11 to 17.

• Bart was the lone Olivet player to score in double figures, as he had 10 points.
• Senior Noah Wiswary contributed nine points and three assists.
• Junior Nolan Finkbeiner came off the bench to score eight points and dish out four assists.
• Senior Dylan Hignite grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds.

• "I'm very proud of the fight that some of my bench guys showed out there in the second half," said Olivet head coach Sam Hargraves. "Cutting it down to 10 around the 9:00 mark was fun to watch. I loved the way they competed to get it back to that point. Outside of that it was hard to watch most of the first half and most of the time the normal top guys were out there. I don't want to take anything away from Elmhurst, they looked exactly like they look every time I see them play.
• "Our freshmen played like 'freshmen' and our seniors played like 'freshmen.'  We made mistakes throughout the first half I haven't seen in a while. Then when our bench came in it looked much more like practice does. Confidence is a tough thing to attain sometimes.  We're still looking for enough of it to compete for a full 40 minutes."

• The Comets are back in action next Saturday, December 2, when they are on the road to play University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. ET.