Box Score The Hope men's basketball team dropped its season opener on Friday, losing 83-70 at nationally ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater.
The Flying Dutchmen received a game-high 21 points from sophomore point guard Ben Gardner of Carmel, Ind. (Carmel HS).
Senior center Nate VanArendonk of Grand Haven (Grand Haven HS) also reached double figures with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds against the 13th-ranked Warhawks (3-0 overall).
Hope coach Matt Neil said the Flying Dutchmen did a good job rallying from an early 13-point halftime deficit.
Hope took a 61-60 lead with 9 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in the second half on a layup from sophomore center Brock Benson of Willowbrook, Ill. (Hinsdale South HS).
Neil said the game changed after VanArendonk and Benson both picked up their fourth fouls in a span of 50 seconds shortly after Benson scored.
"We came out in the second half, and we decided we want to break this game into five four-minute games. We won the first one. We won the second one," Neil said. "At the 10-minute mark, we had great focus. We didn't turn the ball over during a 10-minute period. They did a really good getting the ball inside. We lost track of what was getting us to where we need to get.
"We've got some things we definitely learned," Neil said. "The nice part is we did come back (against) a very, very good basketball team."
Hope returns to action Saturday at 7 p.m. Central when it plays at fourth-ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
