Down by seven with three minutes in regulation, the Knights fought back to capture a thrilling 100-99 overtime victory over Alma on Wednesday. With the win, Calvin remains tied for second place in the MIAA standings with Adrian at 7-4 in league play.

The Knights opened up a lead early in the first half, going up nine in the game's first six minutes. Matt DeBoer and Bryan Powell combined for 13 of Calvin's first 23 points.

But the Scots, who lead the league in three-pointers made, soon caught fire and wouldn't cool down. The Scots drained three triples in just over two minutes to give the Scots a single point advantage with seven minutes remaining in the first half.

Alma would only pull away from there.  The Scots went up by six with less than four minutes remaining, only to see Calvin cut the margin to two. But Alma responded with two more triples in the half's final 32 seconds, including a buzzer-beating, baseline three-pointer from Cory Schneider to close out the half. The Knights trailed 51-43 at the break.

Both squads came out of the locker room in prime offensive form. Tyler Kruis got the first two of his 11 second half points off a reverse layup three minutes into the half. But Alma consistently had an answer for the Knights' offense. On the next Scots' possession, Schneider knocked down another of his seven threes on the evening.

From there, the Scots' lead would fluctuate between two and four points.  With seven minutes to go, Lance Jongekrig hit a three to extend Alma's lead to seven. Minutes later, Tom Snikkers scored four consecutive points for the Knights to cut the deficit to three, but four unanswered points from the Scots returned the margin to seven with three minutes to play.

That's when the Knights' three leading scorers took over. Snikkers drilled a three-pointer. DeBoer hit a jumper in the paint. And Bryan Powell converted a layup to cut the lead to two with two minutes to play. After an Alma turnover, Snikkers connected on a runner to tie the game at 86 with 1:47 on the clock.

Each team would then trade scoreless possessions before the Scots got the ball back with 48 seconds to play.  Alma drained the shot clock down to five seconds and Greg Silverthorn knocked down a leaning 18-footer to give the Scots a two point lead with nine seconds to go on the game clock.

On the ensuing possession, Powell drove to the right wing and found DeBoer on the baseline. DeBoer then patiently executed his right-handed hook and squared the game at 88 with just three seconds remaining. Afterwards, Schneider's buzzer-beating halfcourt heave fell short and the game went into overtime.

In overtime, the Knights drew first blood after Powell crossed his man over, beat him with a pump fake, and sank a mid-range jumper.  Snikkers followed that up with a spin move and a fade away jumper off the glass. Minutes later, with the Knights on top by five, Jongekrig hit another triple to cut Calvin's lead to two. DeBoer then answered with a jump stop hook shot to put Calvin put on top by four. Once again, Jongekrig hit a three. After Calvin failed to score on its offensive possession, the Scots missed a late three to seal a Calvin victory at 100-99.

"The win is what we needed. I'm glad we persevered and fought through," said Coach Kevin Vande Streek after the game.

Four Knights finished in double figures. Snikkers had 26 points and 11 rebounds for his third consecutive double-double. DeBoer had 22 points and seven rebounds. Powell had 21 points and Kruis had 16 points and nine rebounds. Alma's Cory Schneider led all scorers with 27 points.

With his 26-point effort, Snikkers boosted his career scoring total to 1,026 points, moving past Dan Aultman, Bill Wolterstorff and Matt Veltema and into 18th place on the Calvin career scoring list.

The Knights face archrival Hope on Saturday in the Van Noord Arena.