Things looked good for Elmhurst in the first half. The team jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and then expanded the lead to 15-2. A lay-up by Andrew Mohney with 6:40 to play in the half gave Elmhurst a 31-13 advantage. Kalamazoo then adjusted their defense, playing extremely tight coverage. The Hornets were able to force a few turnovers and closed the half on a 20-9 run to cut the Bluejays lead to 40-33 at halftime.
In the first half, Elmhurst shot 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range (4-of-8) while Kalamazoo shot 50 percent (11-of-22) from the floor and 40 percent (2-of-5) from beyond the 3-point arc.
In the second half, the Hornets began to chip away at the Elmhurst lead, getting as close as two points at 48-46, before Elmhurst opened its lead back to a nine-point advantage at 61-52 with 7:15 to play. The Hornets fought back and trimmed the lead to two points at 64-62. Four straight points by Elmhurst gave the Bluejays a 68-62 lead with 3:23 to play. A 3-pointer by Ryan Konwinski and a lay-up by Phillip Weaver cut the Elmhurst lead to one-point with 2:07 to play. Nick Michael had a put-back basket with 1:31 to play to give Elmhurst a three-point advantage.
Konowinski hit a clutch three to knot the score at 70-70 with 1:11 to play. A missed three pointer by the Bluejays gave Kalamazoo the ball back. Konowinski was fouled with 40 seconds to play and hit both free throws, giving the Hornets their first lead of the game. The Bluejays knotted the game with 25 seconds to play on a driving Chris Martin lay-up. Kalamazoo brought the ball down court and played for one shot. An intended pass was deflected twice and fell into Tony Wichmann hand’s under the basket. Wichmann hit the game-winning lay-up for Kalamazoo with two seconds to play.
The Bluejays struggled with their shooting in the second half, hitting just 40 percent (8-of-20) of their shots from the floor and just 11.1 percent (1-of-9) from 3-point range. Kalamazoo hit 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) shots in the second half, including 4-of-5 (80 percent) from 3-point range.
For the game, the Bluejays shot 52.3 percent (23-of-44) from the floor and 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from 3-point range. Kalamazoo hit 55.8 percent of their shots (24-of-43), including 60 percent of the its 3-point attempts (6-of-10). The Bluejays won the battle of the rebounds 27-20. Both teams struggled with handling the ball, as Elmhurst turned the ball over 24 times and Kalamazoo turned the ball over 23 points.
Elmhurst was led by 25 points and eight rebounds from Martin who finished the night 7-of-12 from the floor. Michael had a strong night as well, finishing with 23 points and five boards. Evan Patchett added 12 points for the Bluejays. No other Bluejay players finished with over five points.
Kalamazoo was led by 18 points from Wichmann and 16 from Konwinski. Weaver added 10 points for the Hornets.
Elmhurst will host the Bluejay Classic Tournament on Friday (December 17) and Saturday (December 18). Elmhurst hosts Marian College (Wis.) on Friday night at 8:00 p.m.