They say long-distance relationships are hard, but Albion College guard Eric Evans might disagree. Locked in a 48-48 tie with Spring Arbor University Tuesday night, Evans drilled the 40th three-pointer of his young career – this one coming from 28-feet out, with a hand in his face, and just seconds remaining on the game-clock. Evans' clutch shot from downtown was the dagger, lifting Albion to a 51-50 victory that pushed its record to 3-0.
Despite the exciting finish, Albion started surprisingly slow after a strong showing last weekend where they won the Mike Turner Tip-Off Championship. The Britons fell behind by as many as 9 points in the first half.
"It's hard for young teams to get focused after such an emotional weekend, but a sign of a good team is how they handle success," Albion Head Coach Jody May said. "So I asked my team today, how are you going to handle it? They weren't into it emotionally from the start. We need to learn a lesson from this. We gutted one out, and I think we got pretty lucky today – both teams are very young, and neither team played very well."
May is spot-on – there are just two seniors between the two teams, Albion's Lawrence Ridgell and Spring Arbor's Rob Hogans. While both seniors played well (Ridgell scored in double figures with 13), the young guys for each team had trouble getting into a rhythm offensively and the game got sloppy at times. Nonetheless, the potential for each team is there, and the fans of each program should cherish the opportunity of watching their team grow and mature on a week-by-week basis.
Ultimately, it was a game of runs, and Albion made a run at the perfect time. Trailing 58-56 with less than a minute to go in the game, sophomore Jordan Herron hit two clutch free-throws to begin a 5-0 run. Herron had yet another inspirational night notching his first double-double of the season – he led Albion with 14 points while pulling down 10 rebounds and getting to the free throw line 11 times. However, despite being a destructive force on the interior, Coach May thinks Herron can get better.
"Jordan's not being aggressive enough. He's gotten off to a slow start. But he's a vital part of our offense. He's extremely versatile and does everything well," May said.
Albion will seek its fourth victory Saturday when they face off with Little Giants of Wabash College.