DePree posted his fifth double-double of the season, with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Twelve of those points and eight rebounds came in the second half. He also dished out six assists, blocked two shots, collected a steal and made nearly all the big plays for the Britons down the stretch.
"He was tremendous," said Albion head coach Mike Turner. "He's a tremendous player and a tremendous person. He gave us great leadership and he willed us to victory."
In a timeout with 12 minutes remaining DePree called upon his teammates. "Hey, hey, let's go right now, alright!" DePree yelled with the Britons trailing 45-40. Minutes later DePree asserted himself.
With the Britons trailing 48-40 with 11 minutes left, DePree sparked a huge 10-0 run over four minutes that had the Kresge Krazies going wild. During the run DePree had four points, four rebounds and a steal. The 50-48 Albion lead was its first since it held an 11-10 margin seven minutes into the game.
From there the lead changed six times in the next four minutes. The Britons took the lead for good with 2:50 left on a jumper by DePree. A minute later he made two free throws to give the Britons a 60-56 advantage.
The Scots responded, however, getting a three-pointer off an inbounds play from Anthony Jones, a sophomore, who scorched the Britons for 30 points in the game, to cut the lead to 60-59 with 1:35 left.
DePree responded again, this time finding junior forward Garrett Gibbons on the baseline with the shot clock running out for a midrange jumper with 56 seconds left.
But again the Scots responded, getting two free throws from Jones to cut the lead to one.
The Britons ran the clock down to nine seconds on their final possession, but senior guard Michael Thomas missed a three-pointer off the front iron, giving the Scots one final chance.
Jones drove to the paint, but Albion junior guard Rick Palmer, who had just been inserted into the game, came off his man to force a held ball with half a second remaining and the Britons holding the possession arrow.
"We discussed and thought about (inserting Palmer into the game) and he helped out and created the big jump ball," Turner said.
The Britons were led in scoring by junior forward Brandon Crawford, who had 21 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Evan Way also had a strong game, contributing eight points and seven rebounds.
The work of the big men led to a big advantage in the paint for the Britons. Albion outscored the Scots 36-14 in points in the paint and outrebounded them 45-29. They also had a 12-6 advantage in second chance points.
But the Britons could not make an outside jumper, shooting 0-of-14 from three-point range. Alma shot dismally, hitting just 9-of-27 shots from behind the arc.
"It's hard to win when you shoot 0-of-14 from three-point range," Turner said. "We're very fortunate to win tonight. We've struggled a bit recently and hopefully this win will get us through that."
For the game Albion shot 42.3 percent from the field and Alma shot just 31 percent.
Trailing 31-27 at the half, the Britons fell behind 43-33 four minutes into the second half and were hurt when Thomas picked up his fourth foul with just over 17 minutes remaining. But the Britons went on a 5-0 spurt, sparked by four points by DePree to cut the deficit to 43-38 with 14:17 left.
Albion was hurt all game by foul trouble. Thomas picked up his second foul less than midway through the first half, DePree picked up his second with 3:39 left in the half and Crawford, who had a big first period with 10 points, only played 11 minutes in the period because of two fouls.
But the Britons were able to stay close in the period thanks to just 27.3 percent shooting by Alma.
Albion jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first three minutes behind two layups by Crawford. Alma came right back, however, taking a 10-9 with 13:33 remaining. A jumper by sophomore guard Zak Silas briefly gave Albion a 11-10 lead, but Alma responded with a 7-0 spurt to take a 17-11 advantage with 11:21 to play in the period.
The Britons came back to tie the game at 19 on two free throws by Way, but again the Scots responded, this time outscoring the Britons 9-2 over two minutes, to take a 28-21 lead.
Albion was hurt in the first half by committing eight turnovers. They turned the ball over just four times in the second period.
With the win the Britons improved to 15-1, 5-1 in the MIAA. The Scots fell to 8-8, 3-3.
Reported by Jake Lloyd, '07
Albion College sports information student assistant
ALMA COLLEGE (8-8; 3-3 MIAA) Anthony Jones 7-19 13-13 30; Mark Barnes 4-14 2-2 12; Isaac Smith 3-7 0-0 9; James Barnhart 1-4 1-1 3; Jayme Fazi 1-1 0-0 3; Jamie Diener 1-3 0-0 2; Carl Hill 1-4 0-0 2; Anthony Naylor 0-3 0-0 0; Greg Nelson 0-1 0-0 0; Ricky Clarkson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-58 16-16 61. ALBION COLLEGE (15-1; 5-1 MIAA) Brandon Crawford 7-9 7-11 21; Travis DePree 5-8 5-5 15; Evan Way 3-5 2-3 8; Mike Thomas 2-9 2-4 6; Lonny Fulse 1-3 2-4 4; Zak Silas 2-8 0-0 4; Garrett Gibbons 1-5 0-0 2; Mike Bailey 1-3 0-0 2; Will Braaksma 0-0 0-0 0; Rick Palmer 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 18-27 62. Alma College.................. 31 30 - 61 Albion College................ 27 35 - 62 3-point goals-Alma College 9-27 (Isaac Smith 3-5; Anthony Jones 3-8; Mark Barnes 2-6; Jayme Fazi 1-1; Greg Nelson 0-1; Ricky Clarkson 0-2; Carl Hill 0-2; James Barnhart 0-2), Albion College 0-14 (; Travis DePree 0-1; Mike Thomas 0-5; Zak Silas 0-3; Garrett Gibbons 0-3; Mike Bailey 0-2). Fouled out--Alma College-None, Albion College-None. Rebounds-Alma College 29 (Anthony Jones 8), Albion College 45 (Travis DePree 15). Assists-Alma College 11 (Anthony Jones 4), Albion College 18 (Travis DePree 6). Total fouls-Alma College 20, Albion College 16. A-653