Box Score RICHMOND, Ind. — A potential game-tying 3-pointer fell just off the rim at the buzzer as the Earlham College men's basketball team dropped a 70-67 decision to Manchester College on Saturday afternoon.

Justin Barger (Ellettsville, IN, Edgewood) nearly sent the crowd into a frenzy as his trey just missed its target.

"It was a great game," Earlham Head Coach Marcus Gill said. "All of our players, especially the seniors, played their tails off."

"We competed and battled," Gill added. "I'm proud of our players and their effort."

Saturday's Senior Day on Schuckman Court in the Athletics and Wellness Center marked the end of the careers for Barger, Ryan Taylor (Martinsville, IN, Martinsville), Kyle Calder (Crawfordsville, IN, North Montgomery) and Marcus Bledsoe (Indianapolis, IN, Ritter).

Taylor led the Quakers with 18 points as he hit six 3-pointers in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference affair. Calder tossed in 14 points and topped the squad with seven assists.

Colton Bragg (Richmond, IN, Richmond) finished with 12 points, while Barger added 11 points. Dustin Rusk (Frankfort, IN, Clinton Prairie) contributed eight points. Barger and Rusk led the Quakers with four rebounds each.

Quick Start

Earlham was hot at the start of the contest as the Quakers led 9-2 after Calder nailed a 3-pointer at the 17:36 mark of the opening stanza.

Calder was at it again as the Quakers widened their margin to 15-4 when he scored at the 15:00 mark.

However, the Spartans (11-14, 9-9) answered to tie the game at 24-24 with 4:46 left in the first half.

From that point, the Quakers finished the half with a 12-6 run to take a 36-30 lead at the intermission.

In the second half, Manchester was able to close the gap to 38-37 with 16:29 remaining. The Quakers were able to maintain their lead, but Manchester cut Earlham's lead to one-point on four more occasions before the Spartans eventually went on top 52-50 on a 3-pointer with 9:45 left to play.

Manchester then built a 66-58 lead with 4:43 left. The Quakers rallied with seven straight points to make it 66-65 when Rusk scored at 1:41.

As the tension mounted, Manchester scored again to take a 68-65 with 1:15 remaining.

In the final moments, Earlham had a missed 3-pointer and Manchester had a turnover before Bragg was able to hit a pair of free throws to make it 68-67 with three seconds left.

Following the tosses by Bragg, the Quakers fouled and sent Manchester's Jordan Moss to the free throw line when he made both attempts with 2.5 seconds remaining to make it 70-67 to set the stage for the final play.

Moss led the Spartans with 20 points.

The Quakers finish the season 2-23 overall and 2-16 in the conference.

Box Score