ALBION, Mich. – The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team continued MIAA play with a road game at Albion on Wednesday (Jan. 31). The game featured 16 lead changes and 10 ties within the first 30 minutes of the contest, but the Britons did just enough down the stretch to defeat the Hornets 78-73.
After being down by seven with five minutes coming off the clock, Kalamazoo went on a 19-6 run to take a 22-16 lead with 6:19 remaining in the half. Albion then responded with a quick 9-0 run to gain a three-point lead. The Hornets scored eight of the final 12 points before halftime to go up 30-29 heading into the locker room.
The second half began with the two teams trading buckets, with eight lead changes in a 10-minute span. An 11-0 run by the Britons pushed their lead out to nine with 8:54 on the clock to gain the lead once and for all. Kalamazoo dwindled the deficit to three a couple of times, but Albion did just enough to hold on to the five-point win.
Kalamazoo shot 33.9% overall compared to Albion's 46.9%. The Hornets made 10 of 37 (27.0%) 3-pointers compared to the Britons' 6 of 16 (37.5%). Kalamazoo went 21 of 29 (72.4%) from the free-throw line compared to Albion's 12 of 17 (70.6%). The Hornets had 40 rebounds compared to the Britons' 42, while Kalamazoo had 11 assists on 21 made field goals.
Carter Bandemer and Gabriel Sharp scored 17 points each, with Bandemer doing his damage from the three-point line (5 of 12) and Sharp being perfect at the free throw stripe (7 of 7). Lucas Hanifan had a good night off the bench with 16 points, six rebounds, and three steals.
Lukas Broadsword led the team with seven rebounds, while Bobby Samples dished out a team-high five assists. Broadsword (6), Samples (6), Patrick Perez (5), JJ Stevens (5), and Caleb Caul (1) rounded out the scoring for the Hornets.
Kalamazoo will continue conference play with a home game against (RV) Hope on Saturday (Feb. 3), beginning at 3 p.m.