BEREA, OHIO  –  Sophomore forward Kyle Payne (Brunswick) scored a game-high 25 points as the Baldwin-Wallace College men's basketball team beat Alma (Mich.) College, 89-81, tonight (Friday, December 30, 2011) in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center. The victory helped the Yellow Jackets improve to 8-3 overall.

In addition to Payne for B-W, sophomore forward Kevin Krakowiak (Valley City/Holy Name) had 15 points and a game-high-tying seven rebounds and freshman guard Jaron Crowe (Mentor) added 10 markers. Alma (4-7 overall) was led by senior forward Tommy Erickson's 19 points and six rebounds.   

The Yellow Jackets opened scoring at the 19:50 mark when sophomore forward Tyler Ferrell (Brunswick) made a short jump shot. Alma came right back to tie it on a 12-foot jumper by sophomore guard Brandon Krause at 19:37 and took the lead at 4-2 with a jumper by senior forward Tommy Erickson at 18:16 and another Krause jumper at 17:53 made it 6-2.

After B-W tied it 6-6 on two Payne foul shots, Erickson gave Alma the lead at 9-6 when he scored, was fouled and made a free throw at 16:57. A 5-0 B-W run, capped by a three-pointer Krakowiak,  gave the Jackets a 11-9 lead at 15:59. The lead was short-lived as there were three lead changes and ties at 21-21 and 24-24.
 
B-W then had a trio of three-pointers, including two from junior forward Chris Ameen (Broadview Heights/ Walsh Jesuit) to take a 33-24 advantage at 8:38. A layup by junior guard Ben Umbel (Poland/ Seminary) ran the streak to 11 straight points and pushed the lead to 35-24 at 6:33. That led to an Alma timeout. Alma's Krause ended the run  by B-W with a layup at 5:29 to make it 35-26.
 
Another 6-0 run by the Yellow Jackets increased their advantage to 15 points at 41-26 with 3:16 left, but a trio of Alma treys and three more  layups accounted for a 15-0 run and tied it at 41-41 at  the intermission.

In the second half, Alma regained the lead at the 18:29 mark at 42-41 when Erickson made  one of two foul shots. Payne ended Alma's 16-0 run with a layup at 16:16 for a 43-42 lead but Krause gave the advantage back to the Scots with his own layup at 16:00. B-W again forged ahead when Krakowiak scored at 15:19, was fouled and made the free throw for a 3-point play and a 46-44 lead.
 
After an Ameen foul shot at 14:53 gave B-W a 47-44 lead, Alma's Jake Murawske made a layup to make it a one-point game at 47-46. That led to a 4-0 run by each team and a layup by junior forward Scott Branchick (Mentor) for a 53-50 B-W lead with 11:09 left.
 
An Erickson foul shot at 10;52 brought the Scots within two at 53-51 but a Payne layup  at 9:56 followed by a bucket by junior forward Sean Rothermel (Delaware/ Hayes) at 9:24 gave the Jackets at 57-51 lead.
 
The lead was short-lived as Scot senior guard Cory Schneider made a three-pointer to make it 57-54 with 9:18 left. B-W outscored Alma 8-4 to build its largest lead of the half to that point at 65-58 when Payne made one of two foul shots at 7:01. Following a Scot basket, the B-W  lead then grew to nine points at 69-60 when Ameen made a short jumper in the lane at 5:52.
 
When Ferrell followed his own miss and scored with 4:44 left, B-W had its biggest lead at 71-60. But Alma wasn't done yet. The Scots went on a 11-6 run to cut the lead to six points at 77-71 with 1:35 left when Krause made two foul shots. But Umbel took his Alma defender to the hoop on a clearout play and scored, was fouled and completed the 3-point play to put the lead back at 80-71 with 1:03 left. That ended matters.

B-W returns to Ohio Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, January 4, 2012 when it travels to University Heights for an OAC showdown against Cleveland cross-town rival John Carroll University at 7:00 p.m.

Media and fans are reminded that the B-W will televise two men's and women's basketball doubleheaders on regional cable network SportsTime Ohio. The games are the January 28 doubleheader versus Wilmington and the February 18 twinbill versus Ohio Northern University. B-W has broadcast more of its athletics events on regional cable TV than any other Division III school.

FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.