ALBION, Mich. – Albion College clinched a berth in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Men's Basketball Tournament Saturday when it scored a 77-55 victory over Olivet College.

Albion, 13-10 overall and 7-5 against league rivals, forged a tie for third place with Trine University. The Britons and Thunder meet for the second time this season Wednesday in Angola, Ind. A victory would give the Britons the No. 3 seed for the tournament based on sweeping the regular season meetings.

Hope College and Calvin College will have the top two seeds in the tournament, though the seeds have not been determined.

Albion scored the first seven points and never trailed. Travell Oakes scored a basket and a pair of free throws to spark a 6-0 spurt as the Britons built a 21-10 lead 6 ½ minutes into the game. Albion led by as many as 12 in the first half and it settled for a 37-30 lead at halftime.

Lawrence Ridgell scored 13 of his team-high 16 points in the second half. Ridgell produced the first two baskets of the half and Oakes tacked on a layup as Albion built a 43-30 lead and the Britons maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Albion made 15-of-30 shots from the field in the second half and it finished the game shooting nearly 46 percent.

"We wanted to play offense from inside-out and really focus on defense," Albion Coach Jody May said.

Eric Evans knocked down 4-of-6 shots from 3-point range to chip in with 14 points off the bench. Zach Hurth made 3-of-6 shots from 3-point range to finish with 13, and Oakes added 10.

Olivet's Eddie Rogers led all players with 19 points.

More important to May was the fact that Albion held its opponent to less than 60 points for the second time this week.

"Our success is based on our defense and we've defended very well the past two games,"May said. "Points allowed isn't always a good indicator of how good a defense it is. Our intensity has picked up."