GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The Kalamazoo College men's basketball lost a close game to Calvin College 62-60 on Saturday afternoon. In a game that see-sawed back and forth, Kalamazoo scraped and clawed and was one shot away from upsetting the only currently undefeated team in MIAA league play.
In the first half the Knights got out to as high as a 12 point lead, but the Hornets didn't let the game slip away from them. Kalamazoo went on an 18-3 run to finish the first half led by bench player Jason Hugan who had six points over the final seven minutes and finished the game with eight points and six rebounds. The Hornets took a 34-31 lead into the half. It was the first time Calvin has trailed at the half when facing another MIAA team all season.
The Hornets led as far as eight minutes into the second half. Calvin would take the lead with 11:42 remaining and never give it back. However, in the remaining minutes the Knights never got the lead higher than six and in the final seconds of the game the Hornets had possession and only trailed by two. A missed last second jumper wound up being the difference.
Adam Dykema, the team's leading scorer led again with fourteen points. Josh Miller was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field and put up 12 points, six rebounds, and two blocks. Carl Ghfari led the team in assists with four and Jake Whitney led the team in rebounding with seven. Despite the loss it was quite the bounce-back game for the Hornets as they got great production out of their roster from top to bottom.
Defense was a huge reason this game was close. Kalamazoo held Calvin to only 62 points despite the Knights' average so far in MIAA play being over 80. Kalamazoo also forced Calvin into 11 turnovers while committing only seven of its own.
The Hornets will next see action Wednesday, Jan. 21 at home against Adrian.