Men’s basketball team drops 80-70 decision at Spring Arbor

SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Olivet College men's basketball team dropped an 80-70 decision to NAIA-foe Spring Arbor University tonight inside the McDonald Athletic Center in Spring Arbor.

Final Score: Spring Arbor 80, Olivet 70
Location: McDonald Athletic Center; Spring Arbor, Michigan
Records: Spring Arbor 4-5 overall, Olivet 0-4 overall

• The Cougars led by 10 points, 20-10, with 13:05 left in the opening half. The Comets fought back to trim their deficit in half, 26-21. Spring Arbor then used a 9-3 run to take a 35-24 lead. Olivet closed the gap to seven points on back-to-back baskets by sophomore Britton Angell. The Cougars answered with a 4-0 spurt before another Angell basket made the score, 39-30, at halftime.
• The Comets kept fighting in the second half and cut its deficit down to three points, 46-43, at the 14:57 mark. Olivet would not get any closer for the rest of the game, as Spring Arbor led by as many as 12 points.

• For the game, Olivet made 25-of-69 baskets (36.2 percent) compared to 30-of-62 (48.4 percent) for the Cougars. The Comets were better at the free throw line, 83.3 percent (15-of-18) to 68.4 percent (13-of-19). Spring Arbor drained two more baskets, seven to five, from behind the arc.
• Senior Eddie Thigpen scored a team-best 15 points.
• Junior Derrick Johnson tallied 13 points.
• Angell finished with 11 points.
• Senior Chris Martin and junior Dane Vos each grabbed eight rebounds.

• Brandon Durnell posted a double-double, 27 points and 19 rebounds, for the Cougars.
• Nate Flannery and Connor Cottingham were next with 12 points apiece.
• Daniel Cluster scored 10 points.
• Flannery dished out nine assists.

• "There is no question, their size hurt us some," said Olivet head coach Sam Hargraves. "But I thought our shot selection was by far the biggest difference in the final score. If we learn to play together, and learn how to pass the ball, we've got a chance to be a decent team this year. We played with some really good energy defensively in the second half, and that kept us close. We did a decent job with limiting our turnovers but so many bad shots are essentially turnovers."

• The Comets travel to Grand Rapids Wednesday night to play Calvin University. Tip-off from Van Noord Arena is 7:30 p.m.