Hope College guard Marcus Wourman found forward T.J. McKenzie for a go-ahead corner 3 just before the halftime horn sounded at Albion College on Saturday.
The Flying Dutchmen basketball team never fell behind again and went on to earn a 71-65 victory.
A fifth consecutive victory to end the regular season puts Hope's record at 19-6 overall and 11-3 in MIAA play. The Flying Dutchmen finished one game out of first place in the league standings and will be seeded third for next week's league tournament.
Hope will host an MIAA Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday, Nov. 20, at DeVos Fieldhouse. Game time and ticket information will be announced. Calvin University and Trine University shared the regular-season title, but Calvin will be the top seed after winning at Trine, 73-66 in overtime, on Saturday.
"It was a tough game. [Albion] played hard, and it was a defensive struggle," head coach Greg Mitchell said. "We had a pretty good run in the second half to put us up. [Gabe Quillan] did a good job knocking down his free throws. We did a good job finding him. Marcus had a couple of key baskets.
"We made a couple of little spurts that were critical. It was a grinder."
McKenzie's 3 in the closing seconds of the first half propelled the Flying Dutchmen to a 36-35 halftime lead.
After Albion tied it at 44-44 on a Jaylen Flaniken fast-break layup 3 ½ minutes into the second half, Hope ripped off an 8-0 run over the next 2:13.
The Flying Dutchmen sandwiched pairs of free throws from Quilland and Hovey around a layup from Quillan and a jumper in the paint from sophomore forward Justice Mims (Rochester Hills, Michigan / Rochester Adams).
Albion (10-15, 4-10) never pulled back closer than four points.
Quillan (Ada, Michigan / Grand Rapids Catholic Central HS) topped the Flying Dutchmen with a double-double that featured a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Hovey (Shelby, Michigan / Hart) chipped in 10 points and a team-high three blocks.
Senior guard Clayton Dykhouse (Zeeland, Michigan / Zeeland East) and senior forward Tanner Wiegerink (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) added nine points apiece.
Wourman (East Lansing, Michigan / East Lansing) collected a game-high five assists and eight points.
"It had a playoff feel," Mitchell said of the game. "Every loose ball matters, you're trying to string a couple of stops together. Every play matters when your season is on the line. Our guys were focused."
Hope outscored Albion by a 21-10 margin at the line after shooting 70% (21-30 to Albion's 47.6% (10-21).
Kameron Mayers led the Britons with 12 points. Marco Lucchesi finished with 10.