KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Looking for its first Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association win of the season, the Kalamazoo College men's basketball team fell just short Saturday afternoon inside Anderson Athletic Center.
The Hornets fell to the visiting Olivet College Comets, 79-72.
Olivet came out of the gates hot taking an 11-2 lead in the first 2:52 of the first half and their early run set the tone for the half as a whole.
The Hornets climbed to within four points as they quickly made a run of their own to make the score 12-8 at the 14:27 mark.
Despite a highlight tip-slam from Demarco Dickerson with 2:04 remaining, the Hornets trailed 47-33 at halftime.
Down 61-48 with 12:43 remaining in the game, Kalamazoo found its offensive rhythm going on a 9-3 run to cut the Olivet lead to seven.
The Hornets climbed all the way back courtesy of a three from Chase Baysdell with 6:59 remaining, but Olivet did not rattle. The Comets quickly fired back with a 7-0 run of their own and never trailed the rest of the way.
Baysdell paced the Hornets throughout the contest scoring 20 and grabbing eight boards. He was 10-13 from the charity stripe.
Dickerson followed up his career-high 30 points performance on Wednesday with another strong showing, dropping 20 points and also corralling eight rebounds.
Adam Dykema also scored in double figures for Kalamazoo, scoring 14.
Olivet held a slight 47-43 edge on the boards, but the Comets shooting from deep played a large factor in their win. Olivet shot 39.4 percent from downtown compared to the Hornets' 19.2 percent.
Kalamazoo will look to regroup on Wednesday, Jan. 20 when the Hornets travel to Calvin College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.