DePere, Wis. - The Alma College men's basketball team used accurate second-half shooting and scored a season-high 54 points in the final stanza to defeat Wisconsin-River Falls, 83-66, in the opening round of the Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament on Tuesday (Dec. 29) evening on the campus of St. Norbert College. The Scots improved to 6-4 overall with the victory, while the Falcons fell to 5-5.
Senior Scott Nikodemski (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) led Alma College with a season-high 20 points as the Scots won their sixth non-conference game of the season, a feat that has not been accomplished in 10 years.
Senior DJ Beckman (Shelby, Mich./Shelby) added 17 points, while sophomore Doug Bradfield(Mason, Mich./Mason) posted 10 points and a team-high six rebounds. Bradfield also tallied a season-high five blocks to lead all players. Sophomore Kevin Gamble (Mt. Pleasant, Mich./Sacred Heart) contributed 12 points, marking the second time in the last three games he has scored in double figures.
Both teams struggled in the first half, as the Scots mustered 29 points in the opening stanza, their second-lowest scoring output in the opening half this season. After scoring the game's first five points, Alma and UW-River Falls were back-and-forth for the rest of the half with six tied and four lead changes. The Scots scored 7-4 run in the final three minutes to take a 29-22 halftime lead.
In the second half, Alma shot 72 percent from the floor, making 18 of its 25 shots. UW-River Falls took the lead at 32-31 early in the second half, but the back-to-back baskets by Nikodemski gave Alma a 35-32 advantage which it would not relinquish for the rest of the game. The Scots used an 18-3 run midway through the second half to pull away, building an 18-point lead that proved to be too much for the Falcons to overcome.
Jon Christensen paced UW-River Falls with a game-high 21 points and a game-high seven rebounds, while Austin Moldenhauer added 13 points. The Scots held the Falcons to 38.2 percent shooting from the floor and out rebounded UW-River Falls by a 33-30 margin.
Alma now advances to the championship game of the Nicolet National Bank Holiday Tournament and will face the host St. Norbert Green Knights at 8:00 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday (Dec. 30). The Knights, ranked 23rd in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, will be the fourth nationally-ranked opponent for the Scots this season.
NOTES
• Alma's six non-conference wins is the most since the 2005-06 campaign, when it recorded seven.
• The Scots' 54 second-half points is the most points scored in the final stanza this season.
• Alma's 57.1 percent shooting from the floor is the second-best shooting percentage this season and the sixth time this year it has shot better than .500 from the field.
• The Scots' seven blocked shots was a season high.
• Scott Nikodemski scored 20 points for the first time this season and the 10th time in his career. His 20 points was a season-high. Nikodemski has scored in double-figures in all but one game this season and is averaging 19 points per game over his last two appearances.
• Nikodemski made a season-high eight free throws and went 8-for-12 from the line.
• DJ Beckman played in his 86th career game, tying him for 10th all-time in Alma College history. Beckman also scored in double-figures for the fifth straight game and made a season-high seven free throws, making seven of his eight attempts from the charity stripe.
• DJ Beckman tied season-highs for assists (4) and blocks (2).
• Doug Bradfield's season-high five blocks moved him into third place on the Alma College career blocking list. Bradfield now has 71 career blocks, surpassing Rob Taylor's 70 from 1999-2003.
• Kevin Gamble is averaging 10.75 points per game in his last four appearances, including the only two double-figure scoring outputs of his career. Gamble made a career-high four free-throws, hitting all four of his attempts, and tied season-highs for assists (2), blocks (2) and steals (1). Gamble is a perfect 12-for-12 from the free-throw line this season. In addition, he played for a career-best 27 minutes off the bench.
• Rob Holmes tied a career-high with six points.
QUOTES
Head Coach Sam Hargraves
"The combination of us appearing to be jet-lagged, and UW-River Falls being a very good passing and defensive positioning team, the first half was pretty ugly to watch. We came out with much more intensity and aggressiveness for most of the second half. Part of our better shooting was due to much more energy defensively. Tomorrow will be a great test against one of the best programs in NCAA Division III. It should be fun."