ALBION, Mich. – After a tough loss to Hope on Wednesday, the Albion men's basketball team rebounded with a gritty, 73-69 victory over Calvin at Kresge Gymnasium.

The win snapped an eight-game skid against the Knights.

The Britons jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first five minutes and held their advantage until Calvin tied it up, 22-22, with 5:21 left in the half.

The Knights took their first lead with 3:55 to go, but Albion ended the stanza on a 9-4 run to take a 33-29 advantage into the locker room.

After a ferocious block by Michael Umeh, the Britons ran up the court as Truman King sunk a three with 0.2 seconds left that gave Albion the two-possession lead.

Albion came out storming in the second half, opening on a 12-2 run to make it 45-31.

The Britons kept their double-digit lead for the majority of the next five minutes before the Knights began to chip away at it. A Jalen Overway layup made it a one-possession game, 61-58, with 6:04 left but Albion always had an answer as they never surrendered their lead.

Twice in the final 2:30 the Knights made it a one-point game. However, the Britons went 8-for-8 at the line during that stretch to seal the win.

Despite a season-high 33 points from the All-American Overway, including 23 in the second half, Umeh registered two key blocks on his layup attempts and three total for the game while the Britons forced the Knights to shoot just 20.8% from beyond the arc.

Albion was led by Malachi Hooser II, who notched a career-best 20 points. Kam Mayes posted 18 points and team-highs in rebounds (7) and assists (5), and the Britons went 8-of-16 from deep.

Up Next
The Britons will head to Trine on Wednesday, February 4 for a 7 p.m. tipoff.