Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Hope College

Scoreboard

#BeStrongBeTrue
Brady Miller dribbles the basketball.
PIctured, Brady Miller
68
Winner Hope Hope 2-1,0-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
63
Wittenberg Witten 2-1,0-0 NCAC
Winner
Hope Hope
2-1,0-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
68
Final
63
Wittenberg Witten
2-1,0-0 NCAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Hope Hope 28 40 68
Wittenberg Witten 22 41 63

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Eva Dean Folkert

Freshman Brady Miller Sparks Men's Basketball Past Wittenberg

The bus ride home was a happy one for the 21st-ranked Hope College men's basketball team on Saturday, especially for newcomer Brady Miller. 

The freshman from Grand Rapids, Michigan (Forest Hills Central HS) made an early statement in his young career and helped lift the Flying Dutchmen to a 68-63 win over Wittenberg University in the matchup between two of NCAA Division III's winningest programs.

Miller scored 24 points in just his third game in a Hope uniform.The 6-foot-3 guard shot 6 of 7 from beyond the 3-point line while adding 6 of 8 from the free-throw line.

The victory at Wittenberg was Hope's second in Ohio this weekend, having defeated Wilmington College, 74-64, the day before. It was also the third year in a row that the Flying Dutchmen downed the Wittenberg Tigers of the North Coast Athletic Conference.

Hope raised its record to 2-1 while the Tigers now hold the same mark. Wittenberg leads Division III in all-time victories. The Flying Dutchmen are fourth.

Though both teams were plagued by turnovers (10 committed by the Tigers; 9 by Hope) and low shooting percentages (36% for the Flying Dutchmen; 29% for Wittenberg) in the first half, Hope's guard play powered the Flying Dutchmen to as many as a nine-point lead in the first stanza. 

Senior guard Josh Decker (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio / Woodbridge) scored 8 of his 17 total points in the first half while junior Justice Mims (Rochester Hills, Michigan / Rochester Adams) scored 9 of his 11 total points to keep the Flying Dutchmen out in front of the Tigers. 

Hope held a six-point halftime lead, 28-22.

In the second half, Miller hit his three-point shooting stride. Within a second-minute span midway through the last stanza, he hit three 3-pointers in a row and put Hope up, 52-42, with 8:38 to go. 

The Tigers mounted a frenzied comeback late in the game, however, and cut the Flying Dutchmen's lead to two points, 63-61, with 27 seconds left on the clock. Key free throw shooting by Miller and Decker, who were 5 of 6 from the line over the last 16 seconds, sealed the Hope win. 

Though he was held scoreless for the first 17 minutes of the game, senior center Gabe Quillan of Ada, Michigan (Grand Rapids Catholic Central) joined Miller, Decker and Mims in double scoring digits with 14 points. The senior center also grabbed game-high rebounding honors by hauling down 8 boards.

Hope finished the game by shooting 41.7% from the field (55% from behind the arc) while Wittenberg shot 40% from the field (45% from behind the arc).

The Flying Dutchmen also held the edge in rebounding (28 to Witt's 26); assists (12 to Witt's 8) and blocks (6 to Witt's 2). Hope turned the ball over 15 times for the game while the Tigers had 14 turnovers total.

Hope plays next in the Great Lakes Invitational hosted by Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Flying Dutchmen take on Saint John's University (Minnesota) on Friday, Nov. 22, at 3 p.m.
 
Print Friendly Version