Men’s basketball team defeats Albion, 78-73, in MIAA Tournament first round

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's basketball team beat Albion College, 78-73, in the 2023 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament first round tonight at the Cutler Event Center.

• Final Score: Olivet 78, Albion 73
• Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 12-14 overall, Albion 7-19 overall

• The first half was back-and-forth, as there were seven tied scores and three lead changes. After the seventh deadlock at 28-28 with 3:05 left until halftime, senior Derrick Johnson made a three-pointer and senior Dane Vos made a jump shot to put the Comets ahead by five, 33-28. That was the largest lead for either team in the opening 20 minutes. The teams traded baskets to create a 35-30 score at the break.
• The Britons opened the second half with six straight points to take a 36-35 lead at the 18:21 mark. Olivet took the lead back when senior Tevin Ali made a layup. He then split two free throws to make the score 38-36. Albion leveled the score before a jumper by senior Noah Wiswary gave the lead back to the Comets. The Britons regained the lead with a free throw and layup.
• Junior Ryan Bart drained a three-pointer to make the score 43-41. Albion answered with a layup to even the score before another Bart three-pointer helped Olivet go ahead 46-43 with 14:11 left in the game. The Comets did not trail for the rest of the game, leading by as many as 12 points, 71-59, at the 2:09 mark. The Britons did close the gap to three points with 2.1 seconds remaining. Bart sealed Olivet's win by making two free throws with 0.5 seconds left.
• For the game, Albion made three more baskets. The Comets were 11-of-34 from behind the arc compared to 3-of-13 for the Britons.  Olivet had a +6 advantage in rebounding, 37-31.

• Senior Ryan Robinette led all players with 23 points.
• Bart finished with 15 points.
• Johnson added 12 points, with a team-leading four three-pointers.
• Wiswary tallied 10 points and six assists.
• Ali grabbed a game-best eight rebounds.

• "We felt we needed to have a good shooting night from three, and we made some big ones," said Olivet head coach Sam Hargraves. "We did play quite well in crunch time, as we were able to get a 12-point lead with two minutes left. It's just unfortuate that we had a couple turnovers late that made the score closer than we wanted it to be at the end. I also want to give a big thank you to the student body and Olivet community who made it an awesome atmosphere inside Cutler tonight."

• Fred Garland and Ken Thomas each scored 20 points.
• Thomas pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.
• Garland recorded six assists.

• The Comets now face Calvin University in the MIAA Tournament semifinals tomorrow. Game time at Van Noord Arena in Grand Rapids is 7:30 p.m. The second semifinal pits Trine (Ind.) University against Hope College, who defeated Adrian College, 82-63, in the other first round game. That game tips-off at 5:30 p.m. Tickets for the game will only be available at the door.