Center Nate VanArendonk scored a team-high 21 points as the Hope College men's basketball team held off Alma College 70-67 on Senior Night at DeVos Fieldhouse.

The senior from Grand Haven (Grand Haven HS) led three Flying Dutchmen in double figures as they pushed their win streak to nine games and moved within one win of a share of a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship.

Hope improved to 17-6 overall and 11-1 in MIAA play. Coach Matt Neil's Flying Dutchmen play for a piece of the league title on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at Kalamazoo College.

Sophomore guard Alex Eidson of Grand Haven (Grand Haven HS) chipped in 13 points in front of a DeVos Fieldhouse crowd of 3,227, while sophomore point guard Ben Gardner of Carmel, Ind. (Carmel HS), added 11 points. Gardner went 9-of-10 from the foul line.

Hope outscored Alma (4-18, 3-8 MIAA) by a 34-27 margin during the second half.

"I'm proud of our team that we found some grit today," Hope coach Matt Neil said. "We came back and played a pretty stellar second half. We shut them down to 27 points in the second half. They shot 35 percent from the floor in the second half. That was Hope defense in the second half.

"I give a lot of credit to Alma. I thought their game plan was good. They got kids who can shoot the ball. D.J. Beckman had a really good game today. But I thought our kids rallied at halftime. We got done what we needed to get done.

The game was the final regular-season one at DeVos Fieldhouse for four Hope senior players — VanArendonk, forward Caleb Byers of Allegan (Allegan HS), guard Cody Campbell of Swartz Creek (Swartz Creek HS) and forward Grant Neil of Holland (West Ottawa HS) — and student assistant coach Alex Campbell of Ada (Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central HS).

VanArendonk threw down three dunks and shot 77.8 percent from the field (7-of-9).

"I'm really proud of them. I'm proud of what they're going to be when they're done," Matt Neil said of his seniors.