Ben Gardner

The Hope College men's basketball team hit a season-high in points while routing Olivet College 108-57 on the road Wednesday night.

The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association-leading Flying Dutchmen shot a season-high 67.8 percent from the field (40-of-59) as they improved to 16-6 overall and 10-1 in league play. Hope pushed its win streak to a season-high eight games.

Sophomore forward Sam Otto of Wheaton, Ill. (Wheaton North HS), scored a career-high 16 points off the bench to lead Hope. He shot 87.5 percent from the field (7-of-8) in 13 minutes of action.

The Flying Dutchmen had four other players score in double figures.

Starting sophomore guards Alex Eidson of Grand Haven (Grand Haven HS) and Ben Gardner of Carmel, Ind. (Carmel HS), each chipped in 15 points.

Freshman forward Harrison Blackledge of Canton, Ohio (Hoover HS), matched his career-high with 13 points off the bench.

Senior forward Caleb Byers of Allegan (Allegan HS) scored 11 points off the bench.

Hope led 56-29 at halftime. The Flying Dutchmen limited Olivet to 33.3 percent shooting from the field (20-of-60) for the game.

"Our defense created a lot of great opportunities for our offense," Hope coach Matt Neil said. "We got up into people, defending hard. We created some easy baskets. We turned them over 22 times, creating some great opportunities for some run outs. Our running game was good all game. We shot the ball well. We moved without the ball really well."

It was a team effort, Neil said. 

"In the first half, we brought in our second group. They were fresh and Olivet wasn't. We kept bringing in people and extending the lead," Neil said. "That's the way it went the whole night through the last guys who played the last seven minutes."

The Flying Dutchmen also learned on Wednesday they were ranked in the first Great Lakes Regional rankings of the season. Click here to read more about the rankings.