Hope takes down Trine in overtime

In yet another close game, Hope College’s men’s basketball team rose to the occasion at Trine University on Saturday, earning their way back into the top of the MIAA standings. After suffering a tough loss to Albion on Wednesday, the team made a huge comeback this weekend.

The Flying Dutchmen upped their record 11-8 for the season. Their league record is now 5-3, tying them up with Adrian College, Olivet College and Trine University. This was also the fourth time Hope and Trine have gone into overtime in the past five seasons.

The team had an impressive  game playing away from home. Hope led a majority of the way through the first half. Both teams scored a respectable amount of shots, keeping the game interesting. Hope’s points were scored by Jason Beckman (‘19), Dante Hawkins (‘18), Dennis Towns (‘19), Teddy Ray (‘19), Preston Granger (‘21), Max Gaishin (‘21) and Riley Lewis (‘20). The score was 42-39 going into the second half.

Throughout the game, Ray executed several crucial offensive and defensive rebounds, five assists and fourteen points total. Towns contributed ten points and seven rebounds. Hawkins added some vital points near the end of the second half, keeping Hope in the game.

With just over six minutes left,  Hawkins made a jump shot to tie up the score 66-64, assisted by Ray. Hawkins made a layup and a three-pointer within the last four minutes of the half. At a minute and a half to go, Beckman made a jump shot after a steal by Lewis to tie the score 73-73. The team had to make it through overtime to claim their victory.

In an exciting last five minutes, points were scored by several players. Hawkins, Granger, Lewis, Ray and Beckman all contributed to the final points. Lewis made a three-point jump shot to pull Hope into the lead with less than two minutes to go, putting him at 11 points total for  the game. Ray made the game- changing three-point shot with one minute to go, securing the lead. Beckman then sealed the deal with another three-pointer, upping the score 86-84. Trine was only able to make one more two- point shot before a foul allowed  Lewis to reinforce Hope’s lead. Trine was unable to score again, thanks to Ray’s concluding defensive rebound of the game.

The final score was 88-84. Once again, Hope’s men’s basketball has proven their perseverance through a well-matched game. Hope will face Kalamazoo College this Wednesday at home. Kalamazoo’s men’s basketball team is ranked last in the MIAA conference, with a 1-7 record. It will be a good night at the DeVos Fieldhouse for the Flying Dutchmen!