KALAMAZOO, MI - The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team lost a battle to Albion 64-60 this afternoon. The Hornets fall to 7-12 overall and 2-6 in MIAA play.
This game got off to a rough start for Kalamazoo after the Britons jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the opening four minutes. After that, the Hornets settled down and tightened things up. It helped that Adam Dykema caught fire. In the first half Dykema went 5-of-8 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from deep and helped keep the Hornets in the game by scoring 13 first half points. The freshman center Jason Hugan was also excellent in the first half for Kalamazoo, scoring on three consecutive possessions while putting up eight first half points on 4-of-4 shooting. Kalamazoo fought hard to keep it close in the first half and went into halftime trailing the Britons 35-30
Dykema's hot streak continued in the second half when he came out and hit three consecutive jumpers in a row. Adam Peters also got hot in the second half and scored on back-to-back baskets at the 9:03 mark to give the Hornets the 50-46 lead. Peters and Dykema combined for 21 points in the second half, and 37 in the game. Unfortunately for the Hornets, Peters fouled out of the game with over six minutes remaining.
In the final seconds of the game the Hornets trailed by three with possession and were able to draw up a play. They got a very good look at a three pointer that went just long off the back of the rim resulting in the team's third straight loss.
Carl Ghafari led the Hornets in rebounds again as the pesky guard fought his way into the lane for six boards. He injured his right wrist in the first half but came back and finished the game strong. He also had three points, two assists, and two steals. Mike Oravetz played a lot of minutes off the bench and contributed four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two points. The Hornets shot 25-of-50 from the field and really had a good game all around, but the ball didn't bounce their way in the final seconds.
Kalamazoo's next chance to end the current losing skid will come Wednesday, Feb. 4 on the road against Olivet.