The Hope College men's basketball team overtook the Pioneers of Wisconsin-Platteville on Saturday afternoon, 69 - 64. 

Hope improved to 5-2 this season. 

The bounce back win following the loss last Tuesday, is huge for the Flying Dutchmen as they continue on the road to take on Wittenberg next week. 

"The big thing was, we had plenty of time to prepare [for this game], and it helped to get Marcus back on the court as well," said head coach Greg Mitchell. "We learned a lot from the Hanover game, because we didn't feel like we gave a 'Hope type' of effort a game like that requires."

Senior TJ McKenzie Jr. led the Flying Dutchmen with 23 points in a game that saw 12 lead changes. McKenzie, the senior from Muskegon, Michigan (North Muskegon HS), also grabbed six rebounds. 

Sophomore Gabe Quillan (Ada, Michigan / Grand Rapids Catholic Central) tallied 14 total points in Hope's fifth win of the season, going 5 for 7 from the field, while also sharing a team-high in rebounds, eight, with sophomore Tanner Wiegerink (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa). 

Senior Clayton Dykhouse (Zeeland, Michigan / Zeeland East) rounded out the top scoring in the exhilarating back and forth win for the Flying Dutchmen as he recorded 11 points after soaring in 4 of 9 shots from the field and shooting 50% from behind the line. 

The road game for Hope came down to the wire, and free throws. Freshman Marcus Wourman (Lansing, Michigan / East Lansing), who grabbed 10 points, sank both of his free throws in the final seconds to secure the win over the Pioneers. 

"I'm just really proud of our guys for playing as hard as they played because it was a really good college basketball game and just a great battle all the way until the final couple minutes," said Mitchell. 

Hope heads to Wittenberg University on Friday, December 16 at 6 p.m. to take on their third road game in a row, in a five game road trip before returning home.