Behind a superb effort from senior guard Zak Silas and clutch free throw shooting in the final minute, the Britons held on to defeat Calvin College 82-77 in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game Wednesday night at Kresge Gymnasium.
Silas fell one short of his career-high with 23 points, including 19 during the first half. Senior center Evan Way finished with six points, including the final two free throws to clinch the victory. Senior forward Drew Hilton made his first career start and played four minutes of tough defense on Calvin's bigger Josh Meckes.
The Britons took the lead for good on sophomore guard Robbie Clark's only basket of the game, a driving layup with just under 2 minutes to play. Calvin missed four shots on its next two possessions before Albion sophomore forward Drew Yancey made two free throws with 14.8 seconds left to extend Albion's lead to 81-78.
After the teams exchanged free throws, Calvin's Caleb Veldhouse rimmed out a 3-pointer in the final seconds and Way secured the rebound and was fouled with 0.3 seconds to play.
Junior Dean Raven made two key defensive rebounds in the final two minutes, his only two boards of the night.
The win was Albion's first over Calvin since Feb. 2, 2005.
Yancey scored 15 points for the Britons, including 11 in the second half. Junior forward Jim Cash added 11 on 5-for-7 shooting.
The game was close throughout. Albion's biggest lead was nine in the first half. Calvin never led by more than five. There were nine ties and 14 lead changes.
Albion led 40-32 with less than a minute to play in the first half, but Calvin scored eight straight points to tie the game on its first possession of the second half. The Knights then scored eight of 11 points to claim their biggest lead, 48-43, with just over 17 minutes to play.
But the excitement was just getting started.
Albion retook the lead on a layup by Way with 14:08 left, only to see Calvin jump back ahead. Consecutive jumpers by junior guard Isiah Thomas gave the Britons a 57-55 lead, but Meckes came right back with a layup to knot the score.
Albion took a 65-61 lead on a jumper by Yancey with more than eight minutes remaining, but then the Knights caught fire. Calvin made three consecutive 3-pointers, sandwiched around an Albion triple and layup, to tie the game at 70-70 with 6:33 to play.
Both teams cooled down from there, as Albion outscored the Knights 12-7 the rest of the way.
Albion finished the game 8-for-15 from 3-point range, with Silas making 4-of-6 and junior guard D.J. Mocini hitting 2-of-3. Calvin connected on just 9-of-31 shots from behind the arc.
Veldhouse led the Knights with 20 points, the sixth time he has scored 20 or more this season. Derek Griffin added 16 and Meckes and Dustin Smith each netted 14.
Behind Silas, the Britons broke open a back-and-forth first half with an 11-0 run to take a 28-20 lead with 8:05 left in the half. Yancey scored all four of his first-half points during the spurt. Two free throws by Clark gave the Britons a 35-26 advantage with 3:23 remaining, but Calvin ended the half strong.
Both teams shot extremely well from the free throw line, with Albion finishing 12-for-15 and Calvin 18-for-22.
Albion shot 51.7 percent from the field and Calvin shot 38.5 percent. The Knights stayed in the game, however, by hitting free throws and they took five more shots than the Britons thanks to a slim 39-36 advantage on the boards.
The Britons will conclude the regular season when they travel to Olivet College Saturday night for a 7:30 p.m. clash with the Comets.
CALVIN COLLEGE (14-9; 9-4 MIAA) Caleb Veldhouse 6-19 4-4 20; Derek Griffin 4-11 5-6 16; Josh Meckes 6-11 1-3 14; Dustin Smith 5-10 3-4 14; Eric DeVries 2-3 1-1 5; John Mantel 2-2 0-0 4; Matt Veltema 0-5 2-2 2; Tyler Zoerhof 0-0 2-2 2; Kyle Snoeyink 0-3 0-0 0; Tim Katt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-65 18-22 77. ALBION COLLEGE (9-14; 7-6 MIAA) Zak Silas 8-14 3-4 23; Drew Yancey 5-11 4-4 15; Jim Cash 5-7 0-1 11; D.J. Mocini 3-7 0-0 8; Evan Way 2-2 2-2 6; Isiah Thomas 3-4 0-0 6; Christopher Farr 2-2 0-0 4; Robbie Clark 1-6 2-2 4; Andrew Holms 1-4 1-2 3; Dean Raven 1-3 0-0 2; Drew Hilton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-60 12-15 82. Calvin College................ 37 40 - 77 Albion College................ 40 42 - 82 3-point goals-Calvin College 9-31 (Caleb Veldhouse 4-11; Derek Griffin 3-7; Dustin Smith 1-4; Josh Meckes 1-4; Matt Veltema 0-5), Albion College 8-15 (Zak Silas 4-6; D.J. Mocini 2-3; Jim Cash 1-2; Drew Yancey 1-2; Robbie Clark 0-1; Isiah Thomas 0-1). Fouled out--Calvin College-None, Albion College-None. Rebounds-Calvin College 39 (Eric DeVries 7), Albion College 36 (Evan Way 7). Assists-Calvin College 14 (Caleb Veldhouse 3; Tyler Zoerhof 3), Albion College 21 (Drew Yancey 5). Total fouls-Calvin College 16, Albion College 20. A-327