Men’s basketball team beaten by Elmhurst, 106-67

ELMHURST, Ill. – The Olivet College men's basketball team fell to Elmhurst (Ill.) College, 106-67, tonight in a non-conference contest inside R.A. Faganel Hall in Elmhurst, Illinois. The Bluejays entered the game ranked No. 7 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

Olivet scored the first basket of the game before Elmhurst made back-to-back three-pointers to go up 6-2. The Comets tied the game at 6-6 on layups by junior Eric Ewing and freshman Chase Brocker. After Elmhurst took the lead back, Brocker made a layup to knot the score at 8-8.

The Bluejays scored the next point and never trailed for the rest of the game. Their largest lead in the first half was 23 points, 55-32, at the 3:09 mark. Elmhurst had a 21-point cushion, 57-36, at halftime. In the second half, the Bluejays built their lead to as many as 42 points, 106-64, in the final two minutes of the game.

Thirteen Comets saw playing time in the loss. Senior Lee Gardner came off the bench to record a team-leading 23 points and six rebounds. Ewing finished with a season-high 11 points, while Brocker chipped-in with 10 points.

Five Elmhurst players reached double figures in the scoring column, as Bryant Ackerman scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor, including four baskets from behind the arc. Erik Crittenden contributed 15 points, followed by Peyton Wyatt, 14; Kyle Wuest, 13; and Will Nixon, 11. Nixon grabbed a game-best eight rebounds.

The Comets return to the court Saturday with a 3 p.m. game at Indiana Wesleyan University.