ALBION, Mich. – Albion College scored a 100-81 victory over Olivet College to claw back to .500 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball action.
The victory, Albion's third in a row, keeps the Britons a game behind the final berth in the chase for the MIAA Tournament. Adrian College, Hope College, Trine University and Olivet are tied for the MIAA lead at 5-3.
The Britons have a Wednesday date at Adrian.
"The winning streak is a credit to our seniors, Corey Wheeler, Robert Ryan, and Adam Davis because we went through some struggles early on," Head Coach Jody May said, "The seniors kept us into it when they could have put their heads down but didn't. I told them that I believed in them and I honestly never lost that belief and I don't think they did either. I knew we had the potential to do that but it was just putting it together."
Wheeler scored five points, Quinton Armstrong chipped in with four and Quay Burks tacked on a layup as Albion jumped out to an early 11-2 lead.
Albion extended the margin to 16-6 on a Juwan Perry free throw eight minutes into the game and the Britons never surrendered the lead.
Wheeler finished with 21 points to reach the 1,000-point milestone for his career. He sits 21st on Albion's all-time scoring ladder with 1,008 points.
"Corey has been a very consistent player," May said. "He is a very good player, great competitor and really wants to win. He is the emotional leader of this team."
Quinton Armstrong (17), Caden Ebeling (13) and Jamezell Davis, Jr. (12) also scored in double figures for Albion.