Hope men's basketball earns MIAA third seed; Hope women upset at Alma
Hope College guard Marcus Wourman found forward TJ McKenzie for a go-ahead corner 3 just before the halftime horn sounded at Albion College on Saturday.
The Flying Dutchmen basketball team never fell behind again and went on to earn a 71-65 victory.
A fifth consecutive victory to end the regular season puts Hope's record at 19-6 overall and 11-3 in MIAA play. The Flying Dutchmen finished one game out of first place in the league standings and will be seeded third for next week's league tournament.
More: Hope basketball celebrates seniors with 'truly special' win over Alma at home
More: Hope women's basketball wins big on senior night; men crush Olivet
Hope will host an MIAA Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at DeVos Fieldhouse. Game time and ticket information will be announced. Calvin University and Trine University shared the regular-season title, but Calvin will be the top seed after winning at Trine, 73-66 in overtime, on Saturday.
"It was a tough game. [Albion] played hard, and it was a defensive struggle," head coach Greg Mitchell said. "We had a pretty good run in the second half to put us up. [Gabe Quillan] did a good job knocking down his free throws. We did a good job finding him. Marcus had a couple of key baskets.
"We made a couple of little spurts that were critical. It was a grinder."
McKenzie's 3 in the closing seconds of the first half propelled the Flying Dutchmen to a 36-35 halftime lead.
After Albion tied it at 44-44 on a Jaylen Flaniken fast-break layup 3 ½ minutes into the second half, Hope ripped off an 8-0 run over the next 2:13.
The Flying Dutchmen sandwiched pairs of free throws from Quilland and Hovey around a layup from Quillan and a jumper in the paint from sophomore forward Justice Mims (Rochester Hills, Michigan / Rochester Adams).
Albion (10-15, 4-10) never pulled back closer than four points.
Quillan (Ada, Michigan / Grand Rapids Catholic Central HS) topped the Flying Dutchmen with a double-double that featured a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Hovey (Shelby, Michigan / Hart) chipped in 10 points and a team-high three blocks.
Senior guard Clayton Dykhouse (Zeeland, Michigan / Zeeland East) and senior forward Tanner Wiegerink (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) added nine points apiece.
Wourman (East Lansing, Michigan / East Lansing) collected a game-high five assists and eight points.
"It had a playoff feel," Mitchell said of the game. "Every loose ball matters, you're trying to string a couple of stops together. Every play matters when your season is on the line. Our guys were focused."
Hope outscored Albion by a 21-10 margin at the line after shooting 70% (21-30 to Albion's 47.6% (10-21).
Hope women upset
The nationally-ranked Hope College women's basketball team fell to Alma College on the road, 61-50, on Saturday afternoon.
The Flying Dutch (No. 4 WBCA/No. 5 D3hoops) finished the MIAA regular season as outright champions with a 15-1 league record.
Hope (23-2 overall) will host next week's MIAA Tournament on Friday and Saturday, Feb 23-24, at DeVos Fieldhouse as the top seed.
Earlier this season, the two teams went to double overtime at Hope before the Flying Dutch rallied for a 79-77 victory.
In the rematch, Alma (13-12, 9-7 ) limited the Flying Dutch to a season-low 50 points.
Freshman Terin Maynard (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Jenison HS) led Hope with 13 points.
"I thought Terin played an amazing game, I thought she competed hard, she was our best player out there today," said head coach Brian Morehouse. "I thought she was outstanding today and that's a promising thing for a freshman to show up that much in a big game like that."
Sophomore Karsen Karlblom (Crystal Lake, Illinois / Prairie Ridge) added 10 points for the Flying Dutch.
Juniors Jada Garner (Midland, Michigan / H.H. Dow) and Olivia Bellows (Lake City, Michigan / Lake City) each notched nine points.
Senior Raven Jemison (Grand Rapids, Michigan / East Kentwood) and Bellows grabbed seven and six rebounds, respectively.
Alma jumped out to a 32-17 halftime lead after holding the Flying Dutch to five second-quarter points.
Hope came within three points during the fourth quarter during a six-minute run Alma answered back with nine consecutive points.
The Scots had four players in double figures. Reagan Thorr had a game-high 14 points. Taylor Sas tallied 13 points. Madelyn Weber had 11 points, and Brooke LeRoux finished with 10 points.
The Flying Dutch shot 39.6% from the field and 60% from the free throw line.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hope men's basketball gets MIAA third seed; Hope women upset at Alma
