KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team dropped a 77-71 decision Thursday night to the Alma College Scots in their final home game of the season at Anderson Athletic Center.

The Hornets grabbed their only lead of the night, 16-15, on a Josh Decker three-point basket with 10:08 left in the first half. Alma answered back with an 11-0 run over the next 5:14, until a Nicholas Olmeda layup made it 26-18 with 4:54 remaining.

The Scots stretched their lead to 12 points, 30-18, with 3:40 to go before the break, but a DJ Courtney tip-in at the buzzer sent the visitors to the locker room with a 34-25 lead.

Alma took its largest lead of the game at 53-40 with 11:51 left, but three consecutive three-pointers -- one from Gabriel Sharp and two from Decker – sliced the lead to 53-49 with 10:12 left in the game. The Scots rallied to score the next seven points but Sharp dialed long-distance twice more in succession to bring the Hornets back to within 60-55 with 7:28 to go.

Kalamazoo cut the lead all the way down to two, 68-66, on a pair of Courtney free throws with 3:35 on the clock, but Alma closed out the game on a 9-5 run to provide the final margin.

Ty Horky led the Hornets (5-19, 3-10 MIAA) with 17 points and five rebounds. Lukas Broadsword made five of six shots from the field on his way to 14 points and a team-high six rebounds. Sharp was the third Hornet in double-figure scoring with 11 points, while Decker and Courtney each tallied nine.

The game was very close statistically, with Alma claiming the advantage in overall shooting (45-44%) and rebounds (34-28), while the Hornets dished more assists (16-13) and had 10 steals to the Scots' five.

Kalamazoo also outshot the visitors from distance, making 13-30 from behind the long line (43%), while Alma sank 5-21 (24%). Alma's big advantage was from the free-throw line, however, as the Scots made 24 of their 26 shots from the charity stripe for a 92% clip, while the Hornets sank 10 of 13 (77%).

Next up for the Hornets is a road trip to Hope on Saturday. The game will tip-off at 3 p.m.