by Alan Babbitt

A second-half surge ensured a successful conclusion to the RDV Sportsplex Classic for the Hope College men's basketball team.

The Flying Dutchmen pulled away for an 87-70 victory against Central College (Iowa) on Wednesday in Orlando, Florida.

Hope (7-4 overall) went 2-0 at the tournament after defeating North Central College (Illinois), 94-89 in overtime on Tuesday.

The Flying Dutchmen outscored Central, 47-34, after halftime.

"The second half was just better from an engagement standpoint with everybody," head coach Greg Mitchell said. "Central brought the energy in the first half; we were reactionary. We didn't guard like we needed to.

"I was very pleased with our second half. We just took a while to respond."

Hope, which led by as many as eight points during the first half, fell behind for just the second time in the game on a Kole Tupa layup 1 ½ minutes into the second half.

Senior Tyler George gave the lead back to the Flying Dutchmen for good on the next possession at 45-43 with the first of his three second-half 3-pointers.

George (Ada, Michigan / Forest Hills Central HS) scored 19 of his game-high 22 points during the second half.

Neither George nor his teammates missed a second-half free-throw attempt, with George going 4-of-4 from the foul line after halftime and the Flying Dutchmen finishing 12-of-12. Hope shot 83.3 percent from the line for the game (20-24).

All five Hope starters finished in double figures: junior Evan Thomas (17), senior Jeff Bikus (14), senior Clayton Dykhouse (11), and sophomore Tanner Wiegerink (11).

Central, which fell to 3-8, received a team-high 20 points from Kole Topa.

Hope's next game is Wednesday, Jan. 5, against Trine University. The MIAA opener tips off at 7:30 p.m. at DeVos Fieldhouse.