Men’s basketball team beaten by Marian 68-62 in first round game of Zimmerman Classic

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Olivet College men's basketball team rallied from 22 points down but fell short in a 68-62 loss to Marian (Ind.) College tonight in a first round game of the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic, hosted by Wittenberg (Ohio) University in Springfield, Ohio. With the loss, the Comets will play Monmouth (Ill.) College in the consolation game tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. Monmouth fell to the host Tigers, 80-54, in the other first round game.

Olivet fell behind by seven points, 10-3, in the first seven minutes and seven seconds of the game. The Comets rallied with a 6-0 run to trim its deficit to one point, 10-9. The Knights responded with a 28-7 run to take their largest lead of the game at 38-16 with 4:39 left before halftime. Marian's advantage stayed more than 15 points for the rest of the half, including 40-23 at the intermission.

The Comets opened the second half with a 16-1 scoring spurt to cut the Knights' lead down to two points, 41-39. The Knights would go back up by six points, 47-41, before senior Jaren Edsall (Whitehall) made a jumper and two free throws to make the score 47-45. Marian answered with a 10-2 run to regain a double digit lead, 57-47.

Undaunted, Olivet came back and trailed by just two points, 64-62, with 1:24 left in the game. The Comets had the chance to tie the game or take the lead, but missed a basket. The Knights were able to seal their victory by making four foul shots in the final 41 seconds.

For the game, Marian shot 40.4 percent (23-of-57) to 39.1 percent (25-of-64) for Olivet. The Cougars made five more 3-pointers (7-2) and free throws (15-10) than the Comets. Rebounding was also nearly identical, as the Olivet grabbed three less than Marian, 39-42.

Junior Alvino Ashley (Detroit/MLK) posted a double-double, 17 points and game-high 10 rebounds, to lead Olivet. Edsall finished with 14 points. Junior Matt El (Allegan) scored 12 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots.

For the Knights, Aaron Evans led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-19 shooting. Alex Sylvester had 18 points and team-leading nine rebounds. Dwight Cliff came off the bench to score 15 points.

After tomorrow's game, the Comets will prepare for their Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opener next Tuesday, Jan. 4, at Albion College. Game time from inside Kresge Gymnasium is 7:30 p.m.