KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team continued MIAA play with a home game against Albion on Saturday (Jan. 20). After the Hornets got down by as much as 19 in the first half, the team battled back to force their second overtime game in three games. Unfortunately, the Britons went on a 9-0 run in overtime to claim the 97-89 win.
Albion hit the game's first three baskets, but Kalamazoo fought back as AC led 13-10 through the first five minutes. Then, the Britons went on a 21-5 run and held their biggest lead of the game at 19 with 8:08 on the clock. The Hornets responded with a switch to a zone and eventually cut the deficit to seven. Albion made a layup to finish the first half and led 49-40 heading into halftime.
The Briton lead stayed between five and 10 points for the first part of the second half. Carter Bandemer scored 11 straight points for Kalamazoo and tied the game up at 69 at 7:23. Albion quickly grabbed the lead back and was up by five points with 1:09 remaining in regulation. Bandemer hit three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt, and Lukas Broadsword stole the ball to give it back to the Hornets with 43 seconds remaining. Dougie Blackwood came through with the game-tying layup with 10 seconds on the clock. The K defense got a stop to force overtime tied at 81.
Albion made a layup to begin the extra period, and Bandemer quickly made a three in transition to grab a one-point advantage. However, the Hornets committed three turnovers, and the Britons went on a 12-0 run to seize an 11-point advantage. Albion held on to come away with the conference win.
Kalamazoo shot 44.9% overall compared to Albion's 61.0%. The Hornets made 12 of 33 (36.4%) 3-pointers compared to 12 of 21 (57.1%) by the Britons. Kalamazoo went 12 of 15 (80.0%) from the free throw line compared to 13 of 21 (61.9%) by Albion. The Hornets had 42 rebounds compared to the Britons' 25, while Kalamazoo had 18 assists on 31 made field goals.
Carter Bandemer had a career-high 29 points after going 9 of 17 from the field, including 7 of 14 from three, and 4 of 5 from the free throw line. Lukas Broadsword also had 20 points and led the team with eight rebounds and five assists.
Caleb Caul (11), Patrick Perez (8), Dougie Blackwood (6), Bobby Samples (5), JJ Stevens (4), and Gabriel Sharp (3) also contributed to the scoring line.
Kalamazoo will continue conference play with a road game at Adrian on Wednesday (Jan. 24), beginning at 7:30 p.m.