Leading by just 10, 35-25, at halftime, the Britons broke open the game by going on a 12-0 run to take a 47-25 lead just over three minutes into the second half. Sophomore forward Brandon Crawford sparked the run by making a lay-up and tipping in a Jeff Burgess miss.
Stingy defense by the Britons combined with poor shooting by the Scots combined to result in just 11 points for the Scots in the first 10 minutes of the second half. A lay-up by senior forward Joe Finland with 9:39 left gave Albion a 66-36 lead.
The Britons continued to build on their double-digit lead the rest of the half, never looking back. They gained their biggest lead of 36 points, at 80-44, on two free throws by junior forward Jamison Turnbull with 2:57 left, the margin that the Britons ended up winning by.
Crawford led the Britons with 15 points on 7 of 11 shooting. Finland and junior forward Travis DePree each added 13 points. Junior forward Will Braaksma scored 11 points in just 12 minutes of action, and junior guard Michael Thomas chipped in with 10.
The Britons got the job done by dominating the Scots down low. Albion outscored Alma 36-20 in the paint, and had twice as many rebounds as the Scots, 46-23. The Britons grabbed 17 offensive rebounds to just three for the Scots. Five different players—DePree, Crawford, Finland, backup point guard Mike Bailey and sophomore forward Garrett Gibbons—led the Britons with five rebounds apiece.
Albion scored 24 points off 18 Alma turnovers, while only turning the ball over seven times. Senior point guard Marcus Gill (Detroit/Murray-Wright) led the Britons with five steals.
The Britons raced out to a 7-0 lead on three quick buckets and a Crawford free throw, but the Scots came back to get within two, 12-10, with 13:01 remaining. Albion went on a 9-0 spurt, paced by seven points by DePree, to take a 21-10 lead. But again the Scots fought back, and Albion’s lead swayed between five and 12 points the rest of the half.
Anthony Jones and Carlton Hill paced Alma with nine points apiece.
The win extended Albion’s winning streak to three games and boosted its record to 12-5, 3-2 in the MIAA. The Scots fell to 2-15 overall and 0-5 in the MIAA.
Albion continues MIAA play Wednesday, Jan. 28, when it hosts Kalamazoo College at Kresge Gymnasium. The junior varsity contest is scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m., with the varsity game set to tip at 7:30 p.m. Kevin Kropf, the associate director of Albion's Carl A. Gerstacker Liberal Arts Institute for Professional Management, will broadcast the play-by-play of the game over the internet (http://media.albion.edu/sports )