A short-handed Hope College men's basketball team outlasted Adrian College for a hard-fought and electrifying 61-53 victory at DeVos Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
The fourth league win of the season for the 9-6 Flying Dutchmen kept them tied atop the MIAA standings with a 4-0 league record.
Owners of a season-best four-game winning streak, Hope is tied for first place with Trine University and Calvin University. The Flying Dutchmen face Calvin and Trine each twice over the next five games, beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 7:30 p.m. against Calvin at DeVos Fieldhouse.
"I have so much respect for what Adrian does," head coach Greg Mitchell said. "It is a team that knows exactly what it is and they don't make it easy for you, they're a well coached team. It was a funky night [with key players missing], so we had to find a way and I thought we did through second-chance opportunities. When you get down, you can either 'woe is me' or you can just grind your way through it. I thought the last five minutes was a great indicator on who we can be."
The Flying Dutchmen outscored fourth-place Adrian (4-11, 2-2 MIAA) by an 11-3 margin over the final 6 minutes, 22 seconds in front of a crowd of 1,979.
Hope yielded only one Braylon Dickerson made free throw and one Seth Logan layup down the stretch.
Junior guard Marcus Wourman (East Lansing, Michigan/East Lansing HS) tied the score at 50-50 with a 3-pointer with 6:22 remaining. The guard scored eight of his game-high 13 points during the Flying Dutchmen's decisive stretch and finished with a career-high six steals.
"That is a lot of steals," Mitchell said of Wourman, who also collected seven rebounds. "Not only that, but he impacted residual steals because of his ball pressure. I thought he was fantastic and impactful."
Sophomore forward Parker Hovey (Shelby, Michigan / Hart) also scored 13 points for Hope.
The game featured 10 different lead changes. The largest lead of the game, nine points in Hope's favor, came during the first half. Adrian rallied to trail only by two at halftime at 31-29.
The Bulldogs surged ahead, 50-45, with eight minutes remaining after Logan made three free throws after being fouled while attempting a 3-pointer.
During Hope's stretch run, fifth-year senior forward Eli Schoonveld (Zeeland, Michigan / Holland Christian) buried what Mitchell called one of the biggest shots of the game, a dagger fadeaway shot from mid-range to put the Flying Dutchmen ahead 58-53 with 1:17 remaining.
Sophomore forward Simon Neuhaus (Grand Rapids, Michigan / East Grand Rapids) chipped in 10 points for the Flying Dutchmen.
Senior center Gabe Quillan (Ada, Michigan / Grand Rapids Catholic Central) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Adrian received a game-high 16 points from Nick Seifert and 12 from Logan.
