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The University of Olivet

Men's basketball loses heartbreaker to St. Mary's (Md.), 82-81

The Olivet College men’s basketball team lost a heartbreaker, as St. Mary’s (Md.) College’s Alex Franz drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Comets, 82-81, tonight at the Cruzin Classic in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Box Score
December 17, 2010

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Olivet College men's basketball team lost a heartbreaker, as St. Mary's (Md.) College's Alex Franz drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Comets, 82-81, tonight at the Cruzin Classic in West Palm Beach, Fla. The Seahawks entered the game ranked No. 14 in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.

In the first seven minutes of the game, the Comets raced out to a 22-8 lead by making 10 of their first 11 shots from the floor. St. Mary's would get as close as six points, 39-33, in the first half. Olivet settled for a 13-point lead, 50-37, at halftime after shooting a sizzling 65.6 percent (21-of-32) from the floor, including 7-of-11 from behind the arc. Senior Michael McClary (Bellaire) finished the first 20 minutes with 18 points, while senior Andre Evans (Muskegon Heights) and senior Nathan Jennings (Grant) contributed 17 and eight, respectively.

In the second half, the Comets extended their lead to as many as 18 points, 62-44, at the 15:02 mark. Olivet continued to hold on and led by seven points, 81-74, with 2:35 remaining. The Seahawks got a three-pointer to make the score 81-77 and a layup with just under a minute left before hitting the game-winning basket.

For the game, the Comets made 35-of-57 baskets (61.4 percent) to 32-of-74 (43.2 percent) for St. Mary's. Both teams made seven 3-pointers. One difference in the game was the charity stripe, where the Seahawks made 11 to four for Olivet.

McClary finished the game with 37 points on 17-of-25 field goals and 3-of-4 field goals. He also had four steals, blocked one shot and did not a commit a foul in 38 minutes. With his 17 baskets, McClary passed Jeff Bell to become Olivet's all-time field goals made leader. He now has 610 baskets, while Bell had 595 from 1995-99. Jennings posted a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Evans also had a double-double, 19 points and 10 assists.

St. Mary's had four players reach double figures in the scoring column, led by Franz's 20 points. Mikey Fitzpatrick was next with 15, followed by Sam Burum 14 and Christopher Hutchins 10.

The Comets will play host Northwood University tomorrow night at 7 p.m.