Basketball season takes back court

The men’s and women’s basketball teams started off their seasons with wins over the past weekend. The women’s team played at home Friday against MacMurray College and Saturday against Benedictine University, while the men played in Chicago against Greenville College on Friday and Simpson College on Saturday.

The women’s team took victories on both nights, setting the scoring record for DeVos Fieldhouse at 109 points to MacMurray’s 31. This is the first time in 14 years the record has been set and is the highest in the team’s history.

The team followed the impressive victory with another on Saturday against Benedictine at 69-50 in an especially scrappy game. Senior forward Francesca Buchanan had a standout performance, scoring 32 points and placing herself on the top ten scoring list at 1,089 points over her career. She also received Most Valuable Player honors at the tournament. Sophomore guard Kenedy Schoonveld joined Buchanan on the all- tournament team. The Flying Dutch are looking to repeat their MIAA tournament champion title, last year tying for the win. If they succeed in winning, the automatic postseason bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament will be their 20th showing. Last year, the team went 29-2 overall, 15-1 in the MIAA and 3-1 in the NCAA. They took first in home attendance among Division III schools at an average of 1,484 fans over 18 home games, the national average at only 218.

The men’s team also started out their weekend strong in the North Park University Tournament in Chicago, winning against Greenville 139- 129, scoring the most points in team history during the game, beating the 1997 record of 130 points. The Flying Dutch took the win with an imppressive 23-4 run in five minutes after trailing 98-88 with only 13 minutes left on the clock. The team followed the win with a 73-55 loss to Simpson on Saturday.

The Flying Dutchmen also look to repeat their MIAA tournament champion title and appear in the NCAA Division III tournament. Last year they had a record of 19-10 overall, 10-4 in the MIAA in a tie for first place, advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The team also holds the lead in NCAA Division III home attendance at an average of 2,434 fans over ten home games, nearly doubling the second place.