Men’s basketball team downed by Albion, 79-67

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's basketball team let a seven-point lead in the second half slip away, as Albion College came from behind to beat the Comets, 79-67, this afternoon at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet.

The Britons raced out to a nine-point lead twice in the first four minutes of the game. After the last one, 14-5, the Comets hit three straight 3-pointers, two by freshman Marquis Childers (Muskegon Heights) and one by junior Dakotah Ellis (Birch Run), to tie the game at 14-14.

The lead changed seven more times before Olivet went up 26-24 on a layup by junior Alvino Ashley (Detroit/MLK). The Comets stretched their lead to eight points, 33-25, with 40 seconds left before halftime. Albion scored a basket to trail by six points, 33-27, at the break.

Olivet extended their lead back to as many as seven points on two occasions in the second half, with the last time being 51-44, at the 10:25 mark. Over a two-minute stretch, the Britons outscored the Comets, 11-2 to take their first lead, 55-53, since the 6:12 mark of the first half. Olivet could not recover, as Albion stretched its lead to 12 points twice.

Ashley led all players with 18 points. Freshman Paul Lombard (New Era/Montague) scored a career-best 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting. He also grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Childers finished with 15 points.

The Britons had four starters reach double figures. Zach Hurth scored a team-leading 17. Kolin Kazen and Alex Harville each had 14, while Luke Walker had 13. Kazen also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.

The Comets will next be in action Wednesday, Feb. 1, when they travel to play Kalamazoo College at 7:30 p.m.