It was a satisfying Senior Day for the Hope College men's basketball team.
The Flying Dutchmen honored six seniors before Saturday's game vs. Alma College then went on to defeat the Scots, 74-63, at DeVos Fieldhouse.
Hope (17-6 overall) raised its MIAA record to 9-3 and moved within two games of league-leading Trine University after second-ranked Trine was upset at The University of Olivet on Saturday.
The Flying Dutchmen sit in third place in the MIAA standings with one week remaining in the regular season. Hope remains vying for a first-round bye with Trine and second-place Calvin University.
Next up for the Flying Dutchmen is a game against Olivet on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 8 p.m. at DeVos Fieldhouse. Hope closes the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 17, at 3 p.m. at Albion College. The Flying Dutchmen have secured a berth to the six-team MIAA Tournament.
Saturday's win was Hope's third in a row.
The Flying Dutchmen started five of their six seniors: Devin Cheaney (Batavia, Illinois / Batavia), Clayton Dykhouse (Zeeland Michigan / Zeeland East HS), TJ McKenzie (Muskegon, Michigan / Robert Nocek (Bloomingdale, Illinois / St. Francis) and Tanner Wiegerink (Holland, Michigan / Holland Christian). Senior Eli Schooneld did not play because he's been injured all season.
Hope took control of the game behind a 19-8 run over the final 7 ½ minutes of the first half that resulted in a 36-28 halftime lead.
The Flying Dutchmen stretched their lead as much as 23 points during the second half.
MacKenzie, who started Hope's decisive first-half run by burying a 3, scored a career-high and game-high 20 points.
The forward shot 53.3% from the field (8-15) and buried 2-of-3 3-point attempts, McKenzie also grabbed five rebounds and recorded three steals.
Junior guard Josh Decker (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio / Woodridge) chipped in a season-high 13 points off the bench for Hope.
Dykhouse added 11 points while sinking all three of his 3-point attempts.
Junior center Gabe Quillan (Ada, Michigan / Grand Rapids Catholic Central) contributed nine points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Hope shot 48.2% from the field (27-56), including a season-high 58.8% from 3-point range (10-17).
Alma (10-13, 4-8 MIAA) finished with 42.6% field-goal shooting.
"It was not a work of art offensively, but our identity is on defense," head coach Greg Mitchell said. "No matter who we sent out there, guys were guarding hard."
Hope dropped the Scots into a four-team tie for fourth place in the MIAA standings. There are three remaining berths in the MIAA Tournament.