BEXLEY, Ohio - The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team played for the second straight night on Thursday evening (Dec. 15) against Capital. The Comets led from wire to wire in the contest, defeating the Hornets 75-57 with the help of a big first half.
The Capital defense clamped down on Kalamazoo early by only allowing 18 first-half points. The 19-point differential proved to be the difference for the game. The Comets opened the game on a 12-0 run and had a lead by as much as 22 points in the half. The Hornets went into the locker room down 37-18 at halftime.
Kalamazoo came out and battled in the second half, topping Capital by a 39-38 margin. Five of the seven three-pointers made for the Hornets came in the second stanza, along with eight of their 10 free throws. There were no significant runs in the half as the two teams battled back and forth. Unfortunately, the Comets came away with an 18-point victory.
Josh Decker led the Hornets in scoring for the second straight night with 17 points by going 7-12 from the field, including three trifectas. Caleb Caul netted eight points off the bench and grabbed a team-high five rebounds. Addison Atwater contributed six steals and three assists to lead the team.
Rounding out the scoring for the Hornets was Bobby Samples (6), Ty Horky (5), Gabriel Sharp (4), JJ Stevens (4), DJ Courtney (3), Carter Bandemer (3), Alex Rueff (3), Sam Coleman (2), and Lucas Hanifan (2). Capital hit 50% of their shots compared to Kalamazoo's 36.4%, and the Comets also hit 40% of their shots from three. Capital also finished with more rebounds (45-22), assists (15-10), and blocks (3-1), while Kalamazoo grabbed more steals (10-7).
Kalamazoo will return home to play its third game of the week on Saturday (Dec. 17) when Bluffton visits the Anderson Athletic Center for a 3 p.m. tip-off.