Men’s basketball team loses to Adrian, 72-59

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's basketball team dropped a 72-59 decision to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Adrian College tonight at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet.

The first nine minutes and 42 seconds of the game was back-and-forth, as there were eight lead changes. Following a 12-12 tie, the Bulldogs went on a 15-5 run to take their first double digit lead of the game. Adrian then went up by 12 points on two occasions before the Comets trailed by nine points, 35-26, at halftime.

The Bulldogs stretched their lead to as many as 20 points, 62-42, with 7:50 left in the game. Over the next four minutes, Olivet out-scored Adrian 16-5 to trim its deficit down to nine points, 67-58. The Bulldogs made three foul shots and a basket in the final 2:10 to secure their win.

For the game, Adrian shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57) from the floor to 37.3 percent (19-of-51) for the Comets. The Bulldogs also had a +17 margin in rebounding at 41-24.

For Olivet, senior Jaren Edsall (Whitehall) led all scorers with 22 points, including five 3-pointers. Freshman Paul Lombard (New Era/Montague) scored 14 points and blocked two shots. Junior Dakotah Ellis (Birch Run) grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds.

Three Adrian starters scored in double figures, led by Adam Meier's 21 on 9-of-12 shooting. Sean Gallant and Brad Whitby contributed 13 and 10 points, respectively. Gallant also pulled down seven rebounds.

The Comets will travel down I-69 to play Trine (Ind.) University Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.