Hope continues in tournament

Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams took home wins in post-season play

BIG WINS ACROSS THE BOARD — Women’s basketball celebrates a big win over Thomas More College in second-round play. (Hope College)

The men’s and women’s basketball teams both fought intense battles to make their way onto sectionals that will be played this coming Friday as they make their runs in postseason NCAA tournament play. The women took on Wisconsin-Whitewater and Thomas More College on the road this past weekend, beating both teams 78-71 and 74-67, respectively. Their second-round win ended a 94-game winning streak for the Thomas More Saints. The Saints had not lost a postseason game since 2014. Leading the pack for the Flying Dutchmen was senior forward Mandy Traversa (’17) who scored 22 points and had a career-high 14 rebounds.

Despite the Saints’ strong first quarter, the Flying Dutch kept their composure and went to work. At the end of the first quarter, the women trailed 11-18, but ended the half with a 36-30 lead over the Saints. The Dutch managed to hold their lead for the rest of the game with the Saints getting closest at the 3:34 mark in the fourth when they managed to pull the score to 64-63. However, Hope remained ruthless and solidly secured the win after Traversa hit four free throws near the end of the game to give the Dutch a seven-point lead.

On the men’s side of things, they too had tight games beating both Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Washington University 87-85 and 94-80, respectively. Harrison Blackledge (’17) scored 19 points in first-round play to help get the Dutchmen to the second-round of play where Cody Stuive (’17) had a record night. The senior forward put up a massive 37 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the team Saturday. Stuive also had three steals and three blocks for the night. Stuive managed to put in 10 of 11 threes for the night.

The Flying Dutchmen punched their first ticket to sectionals in nine years. Hope was up by 19 points at the half and didn’t let up for the rest of the game. Guard Dante Hawkins (’18) also came up big for the Dutchmen by putting in 26 of their 94 points. Hawkins also had three rebounds, two assists and a steal.

The women face Christopher Newport University at Ohio Northern University this Friday. The game starts at 5:30 p.m. as the Dutch fight for a spot in the sectional championships. On the men’s side, the Dutchmen will face Hanover College for sectionals at 7:30 p.m. in Hope’s very own DeVos Fieldhouse. The excitement continues as both teams continue to fight in postseason NCAA tournament play.