Men's basketball team wins double overtime thriller at Alma, 75-72

Sophomore Andre Evans (Muskegon/Muskegon Heights) made a jumper and sophomore Michael McClary (Bellaire) drained a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds of the second overtime to help the Olivet College men's basketball team win a 75-72 thriller against Alma College tonight at Cappaert Gymnasium in Alma. With the win, Olivet moves a game ahead of Adrian for fourth-place in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) standings with a 6-7 record.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with neither team leading by more than four points for the 17 minutes, 31 seconds. Following a 24-24 tie, Olivet scored the final six points of the half to take a 30-24 lead into the locker rooms.

The Comets' largest lead of the second half was six points, 56-50, at the 5:18 mark. Alma tied the game at 56-56 on back-to-back three-pointers. Michael McClary put Olivet ahead 58-56 on a jumper with 1:18 left in regulation. The Scots forced overtime by making a tip-in basket with 33 seconds left to make the score 58-58.

In the first overtime, the Comets went ahead by three points, 63-60, on a three-pointer by Evans. After Alma made a jumper to cut its deficit to one point, senior Brandon McClary (Bellaire) made a layup to push Olivet's lead back to three, 65-62. The Scots made 1-of-2 free throws with 1:08 left and layup with 13 seconds left to send the game to a second overtime with the score knotted at 65-65.

Alma held a three-point lead, 68-65, by making 3-of-4 free throws to start the second overtime. The Comets grabbed the lead back, 69-68, on back-to-back jumpers from Michael McClary. The Scots took the lead back, 70-69, on a layup. On Olivet's next trip down the court, junior Blake Brannick (Jackson/Lumen Christi) was fouled when grabbing an offensive rebound, and he canned both free throws to put Olivet ahead, 71-70.

Alma responded with two free throws to take a 72-71 lead. Evans made the score, 73-72 with a jumper with 29 seconds showing on the clock. After two timeouts, Alma's Jordan Reddit had his shot blocked by Michael McClary. After grabbing the defensive rebound, Michael McClary was fouled and he calmly sank both free throws with 4.6 seconds remaining.

For Olivet, Brandon McClary had 22 points and eight rebounds before fouling out for the first time in 49 career games. Evans scored 19 points, dished out six assists and made four steals. Michael McClary posted his 10th double-double of the season with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Sophomore Joe Post (Olivet) also had six assists, while committing just one turnover.

Jordan Redditt led the Scots with 27 points, while Jordan Redditt finished with 26 points. Ryan DeHaan grabbed 11 rebounds.

The Comets will wrap-up the regular season portion of its schedule Saturday when they host Adrian College. Tip-off inside The Cutler Event Center is 3 p.m.