ALBION – Inside an electric atmosphere and packed house, the Albion College men's basketball team put on a second half show in route to a 92-69 rout of Olivet College in the first round of the MIAA Tournament on Tuesday evening.
Prior to the contest, Cortez Garland and Ken Thomas were named All-MIAA – and boy, did they deliver. 22 points off the bench from Thomas, highlighted by a thunderous second half dunk, and 20 points from Garland sparked the Britons in the second half.
Senior post Devin Holmes added a double-double, scoring 14 points while bringing down 15 boards. MJ Barnes and Justin McAbee each added 13 points for Albion in the win.
After a sluggish start to the game, the Britons found themselves in an early hole, trailing 35-25 with 5:46 before the first half. Down by double digits, Albion ended the half on a small run to close the gap to three points. Thomas ignited the run with a layup before the Brits got back-to-back triples from the sharp-shooting Barnes, bringing the score to 35-33. The teams would trade baskets to end the period, but the Comets went into halftime leading 39-36.
Early buckets from McAbee and Garland would give the Britons a temporary lead, as the Comets responded immediately with a 3-pointer to silence the rowdy Albion crowd. Garland evened the score on the ensuing possession with a pull-up jumper, knotting the game at 42.
A steal by McAbee led to a corner three by Holmes, vaulting the Brits ahead for good, 45-42 with 16:38 on the clock.
The Britons rattled off an 11-2 run, pushing the lead to 65-51 with 10:30 remaining. An Olivet three gave the Comets life for a brief moment, until Thomas's dunk blew the roof off of Kresge Gymnasium.
Following an Olivet miss, a rebound by Jonathan Armstead-Wilkerson was followed by an outlet pass to Fred Garland. The sophomore threw a gorgeous alley oop to the junior, who finished with a one-handed slam in front of the Albion student section, giving the Brits a 67-54 lead.
From that point on, the momentum would stay in favor of the hosts, who would hold a steady double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest.
In addition to his 20 points, Garland dished out seven assists.
McAbee had a solid stat line, as his 13 points were aided by five assists, five steals and four rebounds.
With a hungry defense in the second half, the Britons scored 23 points off 19 Olivet turnovers. Albion also dominated the inside game, outsourcing the Comets 54-30 in the paint.
Albion shot exactly 50 percent from the floor and nearly 55 percent from three.
The No. 4 seeded Brits move on to play the No. 1 seed, Hope College. Hope defeated No. 8 Kalamazoo on Tuesday, 80-58. Tip off in Holland is set for Friday at 7:30 p.m.