by Eva Dean Folkert

A career-high in scoring by Evan Thomas, pictured right, energized the Hope College men's basketball team in a 101-83 win at Alma College on Wednesday.

The sophomore forward from Okemos (Okemos HS) tallied 30 points on all-around stellar shooting: 8-for-16 from the field, with 5-of-6 from behind the arc, and 9-for 10 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

"Evan actually had a great game at both ends," said head coach Greg Mitchell, "because he had a job to do in guarding (Alma's) Cole Kleiver, one of the more prolific scorers in the league. I thought Ev did a really nice job making him work hard for his points."

"We challenged Ev, and really all of our guys, to get in the gym more when they have time. We just haven't been shooting the ball extremely well. So, credit to our guys for putting the time in. Because then shots deserve to fall a little bit more."

In passing the century scoring mark for the 156^th time in program history, the Flying Dutchmen moved their record to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA. 

The Alma Scots fell to 3-8 overall and 0-3 in the league.

Whatever Mitchell said about taking care of the basketball, it worked, too. The Flying Dutchmen turned the ball over a total of five times for the game – and all of them occurred in the first half as Hope was perfect in the second half in retaining possession.

"When you look at a game with that many possessions, a high-scoring affair as it was, taking care of the ball was absolutely critical," he said. "That's a sign of focus, of guys being locked in and playing smart basketball."

While Thomas' 30 points rightfully garnered much fanfare and attention, an overall team dynamism was key in the road win. 

In the first half, the Flying Dutchmen steadily built their lead over the Scots. Senior center Sam Vree of Lansing, Illinois (Illiana Christian HS), pictured right, scored eight of his 10 points in the first 20 minutes, including an emphatic dunk at the 9:31 mark which was the beginning of a nine-point run by the Flying Dutchmen that gave them a 16-point lead, 34-18, with 7:40 to go.

"Sam just had a lot of energy today," said Mitchell. "I thought he was really, really important in stretches where the game was still kind of a chess match. He just established himself at both ends of the floor and really gave us a big spark off the bench."

As Thomas continued on his scoring blitz in the second half, senior forward Preston Granger of Lansing (Lansing Christian HS) and sophomore Clayton Dykhouse of Zeeland (Zeeland East HS) asserted their offensive presence, too.

Granger, normally a low-post scorer, stepped far outside of his usual range and knocked down a three-pointer at the top of the key with 16:16 on the clock, lifting Hope back to a 16-point lead, 55-39. 

"That (three-point) basket came at a critical time, because we were trading baskets with Alma, and that's always frustrating. So that was a big shot because it gave us just a little bit more of a cushion," Mitchell said.

Granger had 20 points and seven rebounds on the night.

As for Dykhouse, he had three assists, three steals, and scored all 13 of his points in the second half. "I thought Clayton did a phenomenal job taking advantage of creating space and making some really good decisions," Mitchell added.

"We needed to get more plays from different guys, and that's what we got tonight," Mitchell concluded.

Hope shot especially well from the free throw line, making 21 of 26 for 80.8%. Going into the game, the Flying Dutchmen were 67% free-throw shooters.

And though Hope were outshot percentage-wise by the Scots (57.7% to 44.7%), the Flying Dutchmen outrebounded Alma, 38-33. 

As for that turnover differential — Alma 18 to Hope 5, it led to 19 Hope points off of Alma turnovers while the Scots scored no points off of Hope miscues.

Hope's originally scheduled game with Calvin University on Saturday, Feb. 20 has been postponed. The Flying Dutchmen will play Trine University instead at DeVos Fieldhouse. Tipoff is 3 p.m.