Men’s basketball team defeated by Kalamazoo, 97-83

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's basketball team came up short against Kalamazoo College 97-83 this afternoon at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet.

There were four lead changes in the first five minutes of the game. The Comets eventually built a six-point lead, 19-13, with 11:37 left in the first half. Over the next four minutes, Kalamazoo responded with an 11-0 run to take a 24-19 lead. After a 3-pointer by freshman Blake Krum (Schoolcraft) made the score 24-22, the Hornets had another 11-0 run to stretch their lead to 13 points, 35-22.

Olivet came back and trimmed its deficit to single digits, 38-32, with 1:56 remaining before halftime. Kalamazoo ended the half on a 6-0 run to double its lead at the break, 44-32.

The Hornets extended their lead to as many as 20 points. The Comets could not recover and were not able to get the margin to single digits for the rest of the game.

For the game, Olivet shot 45.6 percent (31-of-68) from the floor and 17-of-18 (94.4 percent) from the free throw line. Kalamazoo shot 59.6 percent (34-of-57), including 11-of-20 (55 percent) from 3-point territory.

In defeat, junior Alvino Ashley (Detroit/MLK) scored a team-leading 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Freshman Marquis Childers (Muskegon Heights) and senior Jaren Edsall (Whitehall) each scored 13 points. Childers also had four assists, while junior Dakotah Ellis (Birch Run) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Eric Fishman scored 29 points, including 7-of-9 three-point shooting, to lead the Hornets. Three other starters joined him in double figures. Joe Prepolec had 16, followed by Joe Wilson's 15 and Mark Ghafari's 11. Ghafari pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

The Comets (2-11, 0-2 MIAA) will host Alma College next Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. Prior to the men's game, the Olivet women will be playing Adrian College.