KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Manchester University men's basketball team dropped a non-conference game at Kalamazoo College by a final score of 88-70 on Monday, November 27.

The Spartans jumped out to an early eight point lead with 12:29 on the clock in the first half. The Spartans and Hornets would battle back and forth, tying the score at 28 apiece with just over seven minutes left in the first half. Kalamazoo would go on to take the 50-34 lead at halftime. Kalamazoo narrowly outscored Manchester 38-36 in the second half as the Hornets finished Monday night's game on top 88-70.

Kalamazoo finished shooting 50.8% from the floor against the Black & Gold. Three Hornets scored in double digits during Monday night's contest. Ty Horky led Kalamazoo with 21 points and a block, while Gabriel Sharp finished with 15 points, and Carter Bandemer had 14 points. 

The Spartans were limited to 35.7% shooting on Monday night. The Spartans and Hornets had 40 rebounds each, including Manchester's 12 offensive rebounds to Kalamazoo's five. The Black and Gold also tallied 11 assists and six steals.

Junior guard Bryant Smith (West Lafayette, Ind., Harrison) led the Black and Gold with 17 points, followed by Ty Lynas (Crawfordsville, Ind., Crawfordsville) with 15 points and Zach Sawyer (Columbus, Ohio, Bishop Watterson) with 11 points. Lynas also had six rebounds and three assists, while Sawyer also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and had four assists on the night. Mitch Mendenhall (New Haven, Ind., Woodlan) added seven rebounds, two steals, and a block. First-year Austin Willoughby (Greenwood, Ind., Whiteland Community) tallied seven points, two steals, and a block.

The Spartans, now 2-2 on the season, will open Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play on Saturday, December 2 as Manchester travels to Mount St. Joseph to face the Lions in a men's and women's basketball doubleheader.