Hope men stun rival Calvin again for MIAA title

GRAND RAPIDS - The Hope College men's basketball team reached a low point of its season when they scored just 13 first-half points in a 32-point loss to Calvin at DeVos Fieldhouse on Jan. 11.

But after the Flying Dutchmen roared back to defeat the Knights by eight at Van Noord Arena on Feb. 15, Hope knew it might have something special brewing. They proved that again on Saturday night, as they never trailed after the first minute of the game, led by as many as 17 points, and eventually held on for a resilient 61-54 win over Calvin in the MIAA Tournament finals.

The win was the sixth straight for Hope (19-9) and clinched an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament for the Flying Dutchmen. It was also the third consecutive victory for Hope in the past three days.

Calvin (22-5), the MIAA regular-season champion, will now await a potential at-large bid to the tournament.

"It certainly wasn't easy and you don't win games in the first three-quarters of it, but thank God we played really well early and we guarded the heck out of 'em," said Hope coach Greg Mitchell. "It ended at the right time. (Calvin) came back and made great plays and being in foul trouble made it really tough for us to defend like we wanted to. But credit to our guys for stepping up. Marcus Wourman grew up like a frickin' warrior and he was huge tonight."

Gabe Quillan got things going early with an up-and-under move just 14 seconds into the game, but Calvin's Marcus Bult immediately answered with a 3-pointer to put Calvin ahead 3-2 at the 19:14 mark of the first half. It would be the Knights' only lead of the game, as Quillan hit an 8-foot hook shot, Tanner Wiegerink put back his own blocked shot for a score, and Eli Schoonveld dropped in a corner 3-pointer as Hope scored the next seven points of the game to go up 9-3.

The Flying Dutchmen led just 27-22 when Wourman swished a 19-footer and made two free throws, then saw his teammate Evan Thomas score over Calvin's Uchenna Egekeze on a left-handed spin move just before the shot clock expired (he was also fouled and converted the subsequent free throw) with 7.9 seconds left in the half to propel Hope to a 34-22 lead at the half.

"We were definitely trying to wear that clock down, so it kind of forced us to put up some tough shots," Thomas said. "But I think it was just teammates getting me in good positions and finding me in the post, which is where I was comfortable today. Then it was just letting hours of work take over."

Hope faced some adversity when both of its starting post players (Quillan and Wiegerink) picked up their third fouls in the first minute of the second half. But the Flying Dutchmen were unfazed. Thomas knocked down a topside 3, a cutting Wourman scored off a slick feed from Robert Nocek, and Wourman drilled a 3 from the wing to make it 42-26 Hope with 15:01 left in the game.

Hope would take its largest lead of the game at 50-33 when Quillan made a 3 over the outstretched arms of Jalen Overway at the 7:44 mark of the second half.

It was hold on for dear life after that, though, as Calvin proceeded to go on a 21-7 run over the next seven minutes, with Bult's deep 3-pointer from the top of the key pulling the Knights to within 57-54 with 38 seconds left to play.

Wourman stepped up yet again for Hope, as the freshman guard from East Lansing capped his career-high tying night of 18 points by calmly going 4-of-4 from the line in the final 30 seconds of the game.

"I just thought at the end of the game, we needed to be able to finish," Wourman said. "We can't play hard for 38 minutes and then (lose it) in the final two minutes. The ball was in my hands, I was at the free-throw line and I had to get it done. To come into a situation where they had already won (the tournament) last year and then bringing me in with open arms makes this even more amazing."

Of his late-game heroics, Wourman said, "I just tried to stay poised. I knew the coaches were gonna put me in (the game) early and I was just really trying to be confident. (It was all about) not showing that I was just a freshman and trying to play like I'm a senior."

Thomas was proud of how far his team has come since the ups-and-downs in the middle of the season.

"There were some times where we had to look ourselves in the mirror," he said. "We knew what we were capable of, but we weren't producing anything. Coach (Mitchell) talked to us and he saw what we needed to see in our team. Now we take a couple of days to rest and we gear up for whoever we have in the tournament. We've been playing this 'win or go home' season for a few games now and we just keep going. We love it."

Mitchell couldn't have been more proud of the effort shown by his team both on Saturday night and over the past week.

"We made just enough plays," he said. "But you know, we were fighting for 40 minutes and fighting for the chance to play on. I could not be happier with all that we've been through. The life lesson is that you never quit and these guys never wavered. This is what they deserve and I'm just thrilled that we're dancing next week."

Thomas scored 14 points in just under 36 minutes of action for Hope. Quillan added nine and TJ McKenzie chipped in seven off the bench for the Flying Dutchmen. Hope held Calvin to just 28.0% shooting (14-of-50) from the floor as they once again put forth a stellar defensive effort.

Overway (Holland Christian) went 16-of-17 from the free-throw line to lead Calvin with 22 points. He also pulled down seven rebounds and dished out four assists. Bult was the only other Knight in double figures with 14 points and seven rebounds.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hope men stun rival Calvin again for MIAA title