The Albion College men's basketball team handled the adversity of sitting idle for three days while hundreds of members of the college community recuperated from the seasonal flu. The Britons received another dose of adversity Monday night as it lost 65-64 because Olivet College scored off offensive rebounds on its final two possessions.
The final three minutes featured six lead changes. Albion, which led by as many as nine in the second half, rallied from a 57-52 deficit as Chris Hutton sank a pair of free throws and a 3-point basket to pull the Britons even at 57. J.C. Cruse scored Albion's next five points as the Britons held leads of 59-57 and 62-60.
Jaren Edsall knocked down a wide-open "three" after Matt El tipped the rebound off his initial miss as Olivet went back on top, 63-62, with 27.6 seconds remaining.
Hutton provided Albion's answer as his layup with 10.7 seconds left made the score 64-63.
The Albion defense focused too much on stopping Cameron Bramer's shot on Olivet's final possession, and Eric Mack was there for the tip-in with 2.7 seconds on the clock. Olivet shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and 42 percent for the game.
"I thought our guys responded well to the adversity of the weekend and you could see we were rusty from taking three days off," Albion coach Jody May said. "Our defense wasn't very good in the second half. They got too many easy baskets."
Albion had a balanced offense with five players scoring in double figures led by Hutton's 15. Cruse and Alex Harville finished with 12 points apiece. Anthony Washand Kolin Kazen contributed 11 and 10, respectively.
Albion frustrated Michael McClary, the MIAA's leading scorer, by holding him to 18 points and forcing him into six turnovers. McClary still grabbed 11 rebounds to complete his 47th career double-double. Edsall finished with 16 and Joe Post 11.
"We tried to always have someone around him," May said of defending McClary. "To their credit, they had other guys step up."
Weather permitting, Albion will continue MIAA play at Alma Wednesday night.