KALAMAZOO - The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team improved to 3-0 with a 93-86 win over Bluffton University on Saturday.
There were five lead changes in the opening five minutes of play before the score evened up at 19-19 with 14:28 remaining. It was still a two point game (Kalamazoo 26, Bluffton 24) with 11:23 left in the half before the Hornets outscored the Beavers 30-13 over the final 11 minutes to take a 56-37 lead into halftime.
Kalamazoo seemed to be in command with a 20 point lead (65-45) with 16:00 left in the second half, but the visiting Beavers began chipping away and eventually cut the lead to seven (71-64) with 9:31 remaining. Kalamazoo built its lead back up to 12 (76-64), but the Beavers scored nine straight points to make it a three point game (76-73) with 7:10 left.
Kalamazoo held strong and never trailed, despite holding just a three point lead (87-84) again with 1:37 remaining. The Hornets scored the next six points, capped off with an Adam Peters' dunk, to secure the win.
Both teams shot incredibly well, combining to make 56.9 percent of all shots taken from the field.
Kalamazoo shot 60.3 percent overall, including 65.6 percent in the first half. The Hornets made 10-of-16 3-pointers and 13-of-18 free throws. Bluffton shot 50 percent overall, including 56.3 percent in the second half. The Beavers made 10-of-22 3-pointers and 14-of-22 free throws.
Kalamazoo held a 33-25 advantage in rebounds, including 8-7 on the offensive end.
Mark Ghafari led Kalamazoo with 27 points, four rebounds, and six assists.
Adam Peters added 19 points with two assists and two steals. Freshman Chase Baysdell scored 16 points with four rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes off the bench.
Aaron Schoenfeldt, Carl Ghafari, Grant Carey, and Josh Whitney each scored six points. Carl Ghafari also had five rebounds and five assists.
Kalamazoo has a short turnaround with a 3 p.m. (CT) contest at the University of Chicago on Sunday.