Alma, Mich. - The Alma College men's basketball team opened the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association portion of its schedule in dominating fashion, defeating Kalamazoo College, 107-63, on Wednesday (Jan. 4) night at Art Smith Arena. With the win, the Scots extended their conference home court winning streak to 16 games while improving to 5-7 overall and 1-0 in the MIAA.
Senior Trevor Gernaat (McBain, Mich./Northern Michigan Christian/Mid-Michigan CC) scored a game-high 24 points and collected a team-high seven rebounds as Alma shot 62.7 percent from the floor, including 55.6 percent from behind the arc as it hit 20 three-pointers. Gernaat was 7-for-12 from the floor, including 5-for-8 from behind the arc.
Junior Kevin Scheibert (Sanford, Mich./Sanford-Meridian) and freshman Preston Laketa (Concord, Mich./Hanover-Horton) also scored in double figures, with each scoring 10 points. Scheibert also added a season-best four blocks, while freshman Ryan Stevens (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) tallied a team-high five assists as Alma dished out 30 helpers for the game.
Kalamazoo was led by Chase Baysdell's 13 points.
Alma opened the game with a 31-4 run and never looked back, shooting over 60 percent from the field and from three-point range in the opening half. Gernaat netted 19 points in the opening 20 minutes, including five three-pointers as the Scots blitzed the Hornets, holding them 23 percent shooting in the first half.
"It was crazy to get off to the start that we did, and it's always nice when the ball goes in the basket and it just kind of poured early," Head Coach Sam Hargraves said. "I was more impressed with our defensive energy and pressure tonight than I was anything else.
"I know we can shoot, but we haven't guarded quite that well. A lot of it is because of the break and it's just been pure basketball and we spent a lot of that time defensively. I think as we keep getting better defensively, we keep getting stops, that flows into your offense. I felt like so much of the offense tonight was natural, aggressive plays and it wasn't forced stuff. We're scary when we get hot."
Senior Bryan Hines (Menominee, Mich./Menominee) added a career-high seven points in the closing five minutes as Alma was able to play its entire bench. Freshman Jared Long (Montrose, Mich./Montrose) also reached a season-high, scoring six points while playing a season-high 16 minutes.
Alma will be on the road for its next two games, beginning on Saturday, Jan. 7, when it travels to Adrian College. Tip-off against the Bulldogs is slated for 3:00 p.m.