Men’s basketball team loses close Senior Night game to Albion, 89-84

OLIVET, Mich. – Senior Eric Ewing scored a game-high 29 points in his final home inside The Cutler Event Center, as the Olivet College men's basketball lost an 89-84 decision to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Albion College.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Albion 89, Olivet 84
Location: The Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Mich.
Records: Olivet 9-14 overall, 5-7 MIAA; Albion 9-14 overall, 6-6 MIAA

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Comets scored the first seven points of the game.
• The Britons fought back with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes.
• Olivet tied the game at 10-10 on a three-pointer by senior Zach Walker.
• After that, there were four more tied scores with the last time being 20-20.
• The Comets then took a pair of five-point leads, 25-20 and 30-25.
• Albion came back to tie the game twice, 32-32 and 34-34.
• Olivet ended the opening half on a 7-1 scoring spurt to take a 41-35 lead at the break.
• The Comets continued the run in the opening five minute of second half, building their lead to as many as 18 points, 57-39.
• The Britons chipped away at their deficit and took a 71-70 lead at the 3:49 mark.
• Ewing had a three-pointer and tip-in basket sandwiched around two Albion free throws to put Olivet ahead by two points, 75-73.
• The Britons seized a two-point lead on a trey and free throw, 79-77, with 1:06 left.
• After Ewing tied the game, Albion took the lead for good on a layup.

FOR THE COMETS

• For the game, Olivet made 29-of-64 baskets (45.3 percent), including 13-of-29 (44.8 percent) from three-point range, and 13-of-20 free throws (65.0 percent).
• Ewing was 10-of-24, with 3-of-6 on three-pointers, and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe for his 29 points. He also registered a team-high seven rebounds.
• Senior Aaron Washington contributed 12 points.
• Walker finished with a double-double, 10 points and 10 assists. 

FOR THE BRITONS

• For the game, Albion shot 52.3 percent (23-of-44) from the floor, including 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from behind the arc, and 82.5 percent (33-of-40) from the charity stripe.
• Corey Wheeler led the Britons with 19 points.
• Darius Branch scored 17 points, including a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line.
• Dylan Bennett and Aquavius Burks had 11 points apiece.
• Burks grabbed a game-best 13 rebounds.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• With his 29 points, Ewing now leads the MIAA in scoring at 20.4 points per game.  He has scored 469 points this season, which is 10th all-time on the single-season ledger at Olivet.

UP NEXT

• Olivet will end its regular season schedule next week with a pair of road games. The first is Wednesday night against Trine (Ind.) University at 7:30 p.m., and the second is Saturday afternoon versus Alma College at 5 p.m.