After avenging an earlier loss to then-No. 4 Calvin, the Hope College men’s basketball team aimed to do the same against No. 3 Trine.
Hope, which led by as many as seven in the first half, led by two at the half and trailed by just two with four minutes remaining before the MIAA-leading Thunder pulled away for a 64-53 win at home on Wednesday.
Leading 55-53, Trine’s Brent Cox scored a layup, then hit a 3-pointer and the Thunder (19-1, 9-0 MIAA) converted free throws from there.
Hope (14-6, 6-3 MIAA) was held scoreless in the final 4:26 of the game.
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The Flying Dutch had 24 turnovers in the game – 19 of them coming from steals.
“It was turnovers. Our ball security wasn’t good enough for the entirety of the game,” Hope coach Greg Mitchell said. “We executed the majority of the possessions, then didn’t make the right decisions at the end. Down two with four minutes to go, we will take that. We just didn’t get to the basket late. They were more aggressive in passing lanes. We telegraphed too many of our passes. They preyed on that, and we have to be better decision-makers in the moment.”
Hope shot 42% for the game, higher than Trine (39%) but Trine hit 11 3-pointers compared with six for the Flying Dutchmen.
Trine also had 16 offensive rebounds to Hope’s seven.
Tanner Wiegerink led Hope with 14 points and six rebounds. Clayton Dykhouse had 11 points, while Gabe Quillan and Ben Wagar each added nine.
Trine’s Fred Garland had 13 points and Cox had 13. Emmanuel Megnanglo had eight points and 10 rebounds. Aidan Smylie had 11 points and six steals.
While it was a tough loss, Mitchell liked the resolve he saw from his team against a top-three team in the country – on the road.
“We were ready to go on the road from the get-go and played one of the top teams in the country toe-to-toe,” he said. “It was a good battle – we just had 10 more turnovers than they did.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Hope 79, Saint Mary’s 51
In coach Brian Morehouse’s 800th career game, the No. 4 Hope women’s basketball team rolled past Saint Mary’s (Ind.) College 79-51 on Wednesday.
Hope improved to 20-1 and 12-0 in the MIAA.
Olivia Bellows paced the Flying Dutch with 16 points and added six rebounds. Sydney Vis had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’[email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.