KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team traveled to Adrian for its first MIAA road contest of the season on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 7). The Hornets did not show any quit in the tightly contested game, prevailing in a double overtime win over the Bulldogs 87-86. DJ Courtney made a three at the end of regulation to force overtime, then made another to extend the game into a second overtime. In the end, Josh Decker ultimately made a three with 2.5 seconds remaining to win the game.
Kalamazoo led most of the tightly contested first half, having an answer every time Adrian tied the game up. The Hornets grew their lead to as much as eight towards the end, but the Bulldogs fought back as Kalamazoo led by one at the break. After coming off the bench for the last couple of games, Ty Horky was inserted into the starting lineup and scored 13 in the first 20 minutes. Overall, the Hornets had 10 players score at least a point in the first half to help them lead 36-35 at halftime.
Adrian came out on the attack at the beginning of the second half, grabbing the lead a couple of times. A 12-0 run by the Bulldogs helped them jump out to an 11-point lead at the midway point of the half. Kalamazoo's 9-2 response quickly closed the gap down to two points. The Hornets used the three-ball down the stretch as both teams went back and forth. Josh Decker made two long balls, then DJ Courtney stepped up and knocked down a three at the buzzer to send the game into overtime tied at 71.
The Hornets got down by as much as six in the first overtime period with only a couple of minutes remaining. Fortunately, Courtney took over the game, scoring seven straight points and hitting another trifecta to extend the game into a second overtime. It was Decker's turn to play the hero in the second extra period by scoring five of Kalamazoo's seven points. After the Bulldogs grabbed a four-point lead, JJ Stevens made a layup with 34 seconds left to cut the deficit to two. The Hornets forced a missed shot, and then Decker came back to make a three-pointer in transition for the game-winner.
Scoring a season-high for the Hornets was Horky, who ended up with 26 points. He made 10 baskets, including four from beyond the arc, and led the team with four steals. Decker was 5-8 from the floor, making four three-pointers, and ended up with 16 points off the bench. Courtney ended with 14 points and Stevens added another 10 as four Hornets scored double figures.
Caleb Caul was the leading rebounder for Kalamazoo with seven, and Addison Atwater led the team with six assists. Rounding out the scoring for the Hornets was Caul (5), Atwater (5), Trey Bolling (4), Alex Rueff (3), Nicholas Olmeda (2), and Gabriel Sharp (2). Kalamazoo finished with a 46.9% (30-64) field goal percentage compared to Adrian's 46% (29-63). The three-point line was the difference for the Hornets, shooting at a 42.9% (12-28) clip, as the Bulldogs shot 23.8% (5-21) from downtown.
Kalamazoo will continue MIAA play by returning to the Anderson Athletic Center on Wednesday (Jan. 11) to host Albion, as tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.