UOlivet rallies to beat Albion, 79-73

ALBION, Mich. – The University of Olivet men's basketball team rallied from a 16-point deficit in the first half to post a 79-73 win over Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Albion College today inside Kresge Gymnasium. With the win, the Comets are tied for third in the MIAA standings.

THE BASICS

• Final Score: Olivet 79, Albion 73
• Location: Kresge Gymnasium; Albion, Michigan
• Records: Olivet 8-13 overall, 6-4 MIAA; Albion 9-12 overall, 4-6 MIAA

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Britons led by five points before two Comet baskets made the score, 9-8. Albion answered with an 18-3 run to take a 16-point lead, 27-11, with seven minutes. Over the next two minutes, Olivet used an 11-2 run to close the gap to seven points, 29-22. After the Britons went back up by nine points, 33-24, the Comets scored seven straight points to trail by two points. Albion made the last basket of the half for a 35-31 advantage at the intermission.
• Olivet made it a two-point game twice in the first 90 seconds of the second half. Following the second time, the Britons extended their lead to nine points, 45-36, at the 16:32 mark. The Comets fought back to trail by three points, 55-52, with 11:23 left. Albion stretched its advantage back to seven points, 61-54.
• Olivet battled back to take a 64-63 lead with 5:43 remaining. From that point, there were four tied scores and three lead changes. After Albion went ahead 71-69, the Comets went on an 8-2 run to go up by four points with 51 seconds left.
• The Britons missed two free throws and a three-pointer on their next possession. Junior Evan Honnen grabbed the defensive rebound on the missed three-pointer and was fouled. He made 1-of-2 free throws to make the score 78-73 with 26.5 ticks on the clock.
• Another Albion missed shot resulted in a Comet defensive rebound. Sophomore Nathan Richardson split two free throws for the final point of the game.
• For the game, Olivet shot a 50.9 field goal percentage (28-of-55), while the Britons had a 41.8 field goal percentage (28-of-67). The Comets made one more three-pointer (five to four) and five more free throws (18 to 13). The difference in the game was Olivet had six more fastbreak points.

FOR THE COMETS

• Richardson led all players with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor and 8-of-12 free throws.
• Sophomore Conner Schipper finished with a double-double, 18 points and 11 rebounds.
• Honnen tallied 13 points, including three triples, five rebounds, two assists and three steals.
• Sophomore Lee Hardy contributed 10 points.
• Sophomore Aden Hathaway dished out six assists.

UP NEXT

• Olivet hosts MIAA leader Calvin University next Wednesday, February 12. Game time at the Cutler Event Center is 7:30 p.m.