by Eva Dean Folkert

Senior forward Preston Granger, pictured right, used every tool in his low-post skill set. Junior forward Jeff Bikus, pictured left, used steady aim beyond the three-point arc.

Together, the inside-outside tandem helped lead the Hope College men's basketball team to an up-tempo, back-and-forth win over Adrian College, 89-86, at the Bulldogs' Merrilat Center on Thursday.

Granger from Lansing (Lansing Christian HS) scored 28 points at almost every angle in the paint on 12-of-16 field goal shooting while Bikus from Hawthorn Woods, Illinois (Mundelein HS) scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and 4-of-5 from three-point range.

With the gritty win, Hope is now 5-4 overall and 3-2 in the MIAA, while Adrian falls to 2-12 overall and 0-3 in the league.

"It wasn't the cleanest, smoothest game in the world," head coach Greg Mitchell confessed. "And it wasn't a beauty contest either. But we're going to take that win for sure."

During Thursday's game, the two teams traded the lead 16 times and had eight ties.

The first half in particular was a seesaw battle. Fifteen of those lead changes and seven of those ties came in the first 20 minutes.

The most Adrian led by was six points at the 8:32 mark while Hope mustered its largest lead — three points off a Granger layup — with 1:58 left to go in the first 20 minutes.

At the half, the Bulldogs held a 48-46 lead over the Flying Dutchmen.

"Honestly, I just I did not like the way we started at all," said Mitchell. "We had a handful of turnovers (seven to be precise), we just did not convert on our opportunities, and it set the stage for giving them a lot of life. Credit to them for making shots."

In the second half, Adrian steadily built its margin to nine points twice over Hope, the last time at the 11:52 mark with the score at 67-58.

But that would be the Bulldogs' last lead.

Over the next eight minutes, the Flying Dutchmen outscored Adrian, 24-6, reaching two nine-point leads of their own, the last coming with 4:40 left to go after a Granger jumper in the key to make it, 82-73.

Hope never let Adrian get closer than four points until the final tally marked the Flying Dutchmen's three-point win.

Fifteen Hope turnovers were particularly costly to the Flying Dutchmen as Adrian converted their opponent's miscues into 19 points.

But a wide rebounding margin by Hope, 42-20, created more ball possession for the Flying Dutchmen, leading to more second-chance points, 12-7, and more points on the paint, 42-36, too.

Perhaps most tellingly of Hope's total team effort was the Flying Dutchmen bench-point advantage, 36-16.

"We don't win that game without Jeff Bikus getting really comfortable shooting the basketball," Mitchell said. "I thought we got a huge lift out of (freshman) Eli Schoonveld with four big points, a blocked shot, and a couple of rebounds, too. Then (sophomore) Clayton (Dykhouse) came off the bench and hit nine free throws."

Junior forward Tyler George joined Granger and Bikus in double-digit scoring with 10 points.

Sophomore guard Evan Thomas grabbed with most rebounds for Hope with 11 while adding nine points. Granger had the second most rebounds with seven.

The Flying Dutchmen play their last regular-season game on Saturday, Feb. 27 on the road against Kalamazoo College at 2 p.m.