by Alan Babbitt

The Hope College men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with fourth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville deep into an afternoon showdown at DeVos Fieldhouse.

Unfortunately for the Flying Dutchmen, Platteville converted more over the final seven minutes to earn a 73-63 victory.

Hope fell to 4-4 on the season. Platteville improved to 11-0 overall.

"I was so proud of our grit and toughness. We were plus-eight on the glass. Eleven turnovers, we can live with that. We need to make shots," head coach Greg Mitchell said. "We had some really really good looks. We did just enough to keep our crowd, that potential sixth man, in it to erupt and make this game super interesting in the last few minutes. We just couldn't quite make that play." 

Junior Evan Thomas (Okemos, Michigan / Okemos HS) scored 14 points to lead the Flying Dutchmen.

Senior Jeff Bikus (Mundelein, Illinois / Mundelein) and sophomore Noah Hedrick (Indianapolis, Indiana / Covenant Christian) chipped in 13 points apiece. 

Platteville outscored Hope 24-14 over the final seven minutes.

Two free throws from Thomas tied the score at 49-49 with 7:07 remaining.

After the teams traded missed 3-pointers, Quinten Shields buried a 3-pointer to give Platteville the lead for good. Shields, who finished with a game-high 21 points, was fouled on the play.

Shields missed the foul shot, but Platteville grabbed the loose ball. Justin Stovall was fouled on the play, then buried both free throws for a critical five-point swing.

Platteville shot 50 percent from the field in the second half (14-28) compared to Hope's 29.0 percent (9-31).

The Flying Dutchmen look to rebound on Saturday, Dec. 18, at 3 p.m. when they host the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at DeVos FIeldhouse.