OLIVET, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team traveled to Olivet in an MIAA matchup on Wednesday evening (Feb. 8). The Hornets earned their second straight victory in dramatic fashion as Josh Decker hit the go-ahead three-pointer with one second remaining to down the Comets 66-65.
Kalamazoo held the advantage early in the first half by using a 12-3 run to grab a 10-point lead at the 10:14 mark. However, Olivet stormed back with a run of its own, outscoring the Hornets 21-3 over the next eight minutes of play. Nevertheless, Kalamazoo showed some resiliency, scoring eight of the following 10 points to cut the deficit to two at halftime. Ty Horky was the main reason the scoreboard read 33-31 in favor of Olivet at the break by leading the Hornets with 11 points to go along with a couple of assists. Kalamazoo assisted on 10 of its 12 field goals in the first half, with half coming from downtown.
It was a back-and-forth affair in the second half, as there were 13 lead changes and three times the score was tied. The largest lead of the half was six, which the Comets held with 29 seconds remaining. After Olivet missed its second free throw attempt, Kalamazoo raced down the floor to get a timeout with 20 seconds on the clock. Out of the timeout, Horky came up big again by making a three to cut the deficit in half with 10 seconds left. A quick foul by the Hornets sent the Comets to the free throw line, where they missed the front end of a one-and-one. Horky secured the rebound and was fouled by Olivet to send him to the line. After making the first free throw, Horky intentionally missed the second as the ball got tipped out to Bobby Samples beyond the three-point line. Samples fed Josh Decker with a one-handed touch pass, and Decker made the eventual game-winner from about 35 feet from the basket. Kalamazoo held on to steal a one-point MIAA road win from Olivet. Decker came alive in the second half, scoring 20 of the Hornets' 35 points, including five three-pointers.
Decker paced the Hornets by scoring a career-high 28 points and tying a Kalamazoo single-game record with seven makes from downtown. Horky ended up with 17 points, and Lukas Broadsword led the team with nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals to go along with his nine points.
Rounding out the scoring for Kalamazoo was Samples (6), Caleb Caul (2), Addison Atwater (2), and JJ Stevens (2). Olivet had a 43.9% (25-57) field goal percentage compared to Kalamazoo's 35.3% (24-68). The difference in the game was the three-point line, as the Hornets shot the ball at a 40.0% (12-30) rate from long range and the Comets had a 28.6% (8-28) three-point field goal percentage. In addition, Kalamazoo ended up with more assists (17-14), Olivet had more rebounds (49-33), and both teams had six steals apiece. The Hornets also caused 18 Comet turnovers while only turning the ball over nine times themselves.
Kalamazoo will continue MIAA play with its final home game of the season against Adrian on Saturday (Feb. 11), beginning at 3 p.m.