KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team hosted rival Hope in an MIAA matchup on Wednesday evening (Jan. 25). The Hornets and Flying Dutmen battled hard for 40 minutes, but it was Hope who came out victorious 82-72.
It was a back-and-forth affair early in the first half, as there were five lead changes and four ties in the first nine minutes. Hope tried to grow a lead with six straight points, but Kalamazoo responded with four points to make the score 22-20 with 9:22 on the clock. The Flying Dutchmen then went on a 13-4 run to grasp a 10-point advantage. That lead got up to as much as 14 in the half, but a late three by the Hornets cut the deficit to 43-32 heading into the locker room.
Hope slowly pushed that lead back out to 16 in the second half; however, Kalamazoo did not fold and came back with some buckets of its own. Eventually, the Hornets got the deficit down to six with 1:24 remaining in the game. But, unfortunately, the Flying Dutchmen made their free throws to seal the game.
Josh Decker was the leading scorer for the Hornets with 15 points. In his return from a five-game absence, Lukas Broadsword posted 13 points and eight rebounds. Ty Horky also ended up with 10 points off the bench, and DJ Courtney led the team with four assists.
Rounding out the scoring for the Hornets was Courtney (9), Dougie Blackwood (8), Caleb Caul (7), JJ Stevens (4), Addison Atwater (3), and Bobby Samples (3). Hope shot the ball at a 45.0% (27-60) rate compared to Kalamazoo's 42.3% (22-52). The Hornets did hold an advantage from beyond the arc, shooting 44.4% (8-18) to the Flying Dutchmen's 29.2% (7-24). In addition, Hope ended up with more rebounds (38-32) and steals (9-4), while both teams had 13 assists a piece.
Kalamazoo will continue MIAA play with a road game at Alma on Saturday (Jan. 28), beginning at 3 p.m.