Hope basketball takes losses

(Photos by Kelly Ocock)

Men’s and women’s teams suffer big defeats this past Saturday on home ground

The men’s basketball team faced their biggest rivalry this past Saturday in a back-and-forth game. The Calvin Knights edged out the Dutchmen by three-points in overtime. Leaders for Hope included Harrison Blackledge (’17)with 17 points, Cody Stuive (’17) with 10 rebounds and Dante Hawkins (’18) with four assists. The Knights led in field goal percentage, rebounds and assists. Hope was ranked 16 going into the game.

The Dutchmen were hoping to go 14-0 in the MIAA regular season, but Calvin stopped their chances in the 165th rivalry game. After regulation play, the score was tied 60-60 forcing overtime play where a dunk and a pair of free throws gave the nights a 65-62 lead with 18 seconds left on the clock. Despite a good effort by the Dutchmen, Calvin took 20 offensive rebounds and capitalized more on second chances. However, the Dutchmen made seven of 12 free throws whereas the Knights only capitalized on six of 15.

There were 21 lead changes throughout the game, and fans from both sides were given a well-played game. The largest lead of the game was only a slim seven-point difference when Calvin had a 41-34 lead over Hope at the 14:46 mark in the second half. However, the Dutchmen had a set of stops and brought the score up to 43-43 by the 11:40 mark only letting in a layup by Michael Welch of the Knights. The Dutchmen will host Alma this Friday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m.

On the women’s side of things, the Lady Dutch took on Trine University this past Saturday and also took a 70-53 defeat. The Tigers held a solid free throw percentage of 94.7 making 18 of their 19 attempts. However, Hope led in rebounds, assists, points off of turnovers and second chance points.

Leaders of the game for Hope included Francesca Buchanan (’19) with 20 points and Angelique Gaddy (’17) with three assists. It was a surprising defeat for the Dutchmen who had dominated over Trine University for over 25 years. Trine took the regular-season championship title in the MIAA. Hope will now be the second seed going into the MIAA tournament and will play third-seeded, and rival, Calvin College this Friday at 5:30 p.m.