KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team gave a strong effort Saturday afternoon, but fell in what was a game of runs to the Albion College Britons, 73-62, at Anderson Athletic Center.
The Britons claimed an early lead, but Addison Atwater's layup capped a 10-0 Kalamazoo run with 13:14 left in the first half and gave the Hornets a 16-15 advantage.
Albion regrouped and used its own 12-0 run over the next 3:13 to open a double-digit lead, 27-16, with 10:01 remaining. Ty Horky's layup capped a K rally that brought them to within a point, 31-30, with 4:42 remaining before the break, but Albion finished off the half with a 7-2 run of its own to take a 38-32 lead into the locker room.
The Britons were able to keep the Hornets in the rear-view mirror for much of the second half, but when Horky's three-point shot found the bottom of the net with 2:38 remaining, Kalamazoo found itself down just three, 65-62. That would be Kalamazoo's last gasp, however, as Albion scored the final eight points of the game to claim the victory.
Horky led the Hornets (4-14, 1-6 MIAA) with 19 points on 7-15 shooting from the field (5-11 3-pt.), and added four rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Atwater tallied 14 points and Gabriel Sharp chipped in 10 points, two steals, and a team-high five rebounds. DJ Courtney paced Kalamazoo with five assists.
The Hornets shot the ball well, making 20-47 from the field (43%), including 13-29 from distance (45%) and 9-13 (69%) from the free-throw line. Albion made 23-55 overall (42%) but sank ten of its 19 three-point shots (53%) and 17-22 (77%) from the charity stripe.
The visitors claimed advantages in assists (16-15) and steals (11-8), but the rebounding margin is what propelled them to victory. They cleaned the glass to the tune of a 42-23 margin and their 18 offensive rebounds dwarfed the Hornets' six.
Next up for Kalamazoo is a trip to Olivet on Monday, where they will face the Comets in a game that was rescheduled from Jan. 22. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off.