HAMMOND, Ind. - The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team lost 87-77 at Purdue University Calumet on Saturday. The host Peregrines (11-2) led 42-32 at halftime.
Kalamazoo jumped out to an early lead and led by as many as seven points in the opening minutes. Purdue Calumet evened the score at 13-13 at the 13:23 mark while taking its first lead of the game less than a minute later.
Kalamazoo regained the lead briefly (18-17) with 9:56 left in the first half, but the Peregrines quickly took over again and outscored the Hornets 17-2 over the next six minutes to take a 34-20 lead. Kalamazoo cut the deficit to eight (40-32) before entering halftime down ten (42-32).
Purdue Calumet led by double figures for the first seven minutes of the second half, including its largest lead of the game (58-39) at the 15:10 mark. Kalamazoo scored ten straight points to cut the deficit down to nine (58-49).
The Hornets made it a five point game (69-64) with 6:59 remaining and were still within five points (77-72) with 3:38 left, but were unable to get any closer as the Peregrines sealed the win at the free throw line.
Purdue Calumet shot 55.8 percent from the field while Kalamazoo shot 45.8 percent. The Peregrines made 6-of-16 3-pointers while the Hornets sank just 3-of-18. Purdue Calumet made 23-of-28 free throws while Kalamazoo made 20-of-27.
Kalamazoo held a 29-28 edge in rebounds, but turned the ball over 19 times compared to 16 by Purdue Calumet.
Mark Ghafari led Kalamazoo with 29 points while sinking 9-of-12 free throws.
Chase Baysdell recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while also grabbing three steals with two assists.
Grant Carey scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting while Adam Peters scored nine points with four assists.
Kalamazoo (4-4) takes a short break before traveling to Florida for the Tampa Bay Shootout Dec. 29-30. The Hornets face Regis College (Mass.) on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m.