Albion (24-2) will face Calvin College (21-6), an 82-61 winner over Hope College in the night’s first semifinal, in the MIAA championship game Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Kresge Gymnasium.
Trailing 37-36 at halftime after a back-and-forth first half, the Britons grabbed the lead immediately on a three-pointer by senior Travis DePree eight seconds into the half. Adrian tied the score twice before the Britons took the lead for good with 16:25 remaining on a layup by senior guard Michael Thomas.
Thomas’ layup started a 6-0 run that gave the Britons a 47-41 lead five minutes into the half. Adrian got back to within two, 49-47, with 12:33 left, but Albion then went on a 9-3 run over three minutes—despite picking up a technical foul—to take its biggest lead of the game, 58-50.
DePree contributed three of the points, first-year forward Brian Champine scored four and sophomore guard Zak Silas knocked down a jumper.
The Britons extended the lead to double digits for the first time all night when junior forward Brandon Crawford made an incredibly athletic play, tipping in his own free throw to give the Britons a 63-52 lead.
The lead got as big as 14 with 1:34 left on a Crawford free throw. Adrian staged a ferocious rally in the final two minutes, getting back to within six with 36 seconds left thanks to Albion’s second technical foul.
But Albion hit seven of its last eight free throws to seal the deal. The Britons, who entered the night shooting 71.6 percent from the free-throw stripe, had another stellar night from there, going 23-of-31, 74.2 percent.
“I think we were able to hold the momentum of that lead the last 10 or 15 minutes,” said veteran Albion head coach Mike Turner. “I never felt comfortable though.
“They had a lead on us early tonight and it went kind of back and forth that half,” Turner continued. “I thought Adrian played great defense. They played like a team that clearly wanted to keep playing. They had great leadership.”
Albion was led by its two big men, DePree and Crawford. DePree posted his eighth double-double of the season, scoring a team-high 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Crawford fell just short of his 12th double-double, scoring 19 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
Both players stepped up their game after halftime. DePree had 14 points and six boards during the second period while Crawford had 11 points and four rebounds, all of them offensive.
Albion made a commitment to getting the ball down low after halftime as it launched just five threes (2-of-5) compared to shooting 1-of-8 from three-point range during the first half.
As a result, the Britons outscored the Bulldogs 19-8 in second chance points. Albion held just a 17-14 advantage in rebounds at halftime, but outrebounded Adrian 22-12 in the second period.
Sophomore forward Lonny Fulse matched his career-high with 13 points, including a 6-of-6 performance from the free-throw line. Thomas added 11 to move into third place on Albion’s all-time scoring list.
The first half featured five ties and eight lead changes. Adrian quickly jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first two minutes before Albion responded with seven consecutive points highlighted by its only three pointer of the half made by junior guard Mike Bailey.
Albion grabbed what would be its biggest lead of the half at 15-9 with 13:15 left. But Adrian responded with eight straight points to take a 17-15 advantage.
From there the teams exchanged the lead six times and were tied four times, with the biggest lead by either team being four, before halftime.
Adrian took the lead to the locker room by shooting 6-of-14 from three-point range in the period. However, they had trouble shooting from deep in the second half, hitting just 3-of-8 three pointers, two of which were in the final minute.
Junior Billy Collins Jr. tore the Britons up for 13 points, including three three-pointers, in the first half. In the second half he had just nine points, for a total of 22, five in the last minute. Albion also did a solid job of holding three-point threat Brian Schaefer in check in the second period. Although he scored 10 of his 20 in the half, four came in the final minute and he hit just one three.
For the game Albion, a 51 percent shooting team entering the game, shot 54.5 percent from the field in the game. Adrian shot 46.7 percent.
Adam Novak added 10 points for the Bulldogs, who finished the season 15-11.
ADRIAN COLLEGE (15-11) Billy Collins Jr. 7-12 4-6 22; Brian Schaefer 7-16 3-5 20; Adam Novak 5-11 0-0 10; Mike Lewis 2-4 2-3 6; Jeff Nokovich 2-6 2-2 6; Steve Thornton 2-4 0-2 4; Andy Kubish 1-2 0-0 3; Anthony Thornton 1-2 0-0 3; Mark Bohlen 1-3 1-3 3. Totals 28-60 12-21 77. ALBION COLLEGE (24-2) Travis DePree 7-8 5-5 20; Brandon Crawford 8-13 3-9 19; Lonny Fulse 3-7 6-6 13; Mike Thomas 3-10 5-6 11; Brian Champine 4-4 1-1 9; Zak Silas 2-5 2-2 6; Mike Bailey 1-3 0-0 3; Garrett Gibbons 1-3 1-2 3; Rick Palmer 1-2 0-0 2; Evan Way 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-55 23-31 86. Adrian College................ 37 40 - 77 Albion College................ 36 50 - 86 3-point goals-Adrian College 9-22 (Billy Collins Jr. 4-7; Brian Schaefer 3-8; Andy Kubish 1-1; Anthony Thornton 1-1; Steve Thornton 0-1; Jeff Nokovich 0-1; Adam Novak 0-3), Albion College 3-13 (Lonny Fulse 1-3; Mike Bailey 1-2; Travis DePree 1-1; Garrett Gibbons 0-1; Rick Palmer 0-1; Mike Thomas 0-5). Fouled out--Adrian College-Brian Schaefer, Albion College-None. Rebounds-Adrian College 26 (Adam Novak 9), Albion College 39 (Travis DePree 11). Assists-Adrian College 15 (Billy Collins Jr. 4; Jeff Nokovich 4), Albion College 15 (Travis DePree 4; Mike Thomas 4). Total fouls-Adrian College 27, Albion College 17. A-1003