As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Hope center Nate VanArendonk slapped five with fellow students in the Dew Crew cheering section behind the bench.

It was a fitting ending to the triumphant scene at Van Noord Arena.

VanArendonk, a senior from Grand Haven (Grand Haven HS), put together the finest performance of his collegiate career against arch-rival Calvin College to help lead the Flying Dutchmen to an authoritative 71-63 victory Saturday.

Alex Eidson, a sophomore guard from Grand Haven (Grand Haven HS), led all scorers with 23 points before a crowd of 4,800, including a season-high six 3-point field goals.

Van Arendonk had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He started both halves with rim-rattling dunks and earned the praise of Hope men's basketball coach Matt Neil for setting the tone offensively and defensively throughout the game.

"It's really good for him to feel good about how he played," Neil said of his 6-foot-10 center. "He rose to the occasion. He told me before the game, 'Coach, it's going to be a good day.' And it was."

Hope (8-5) improved to 2-0 at the start of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association schedule.

The Flying Dutchmen, who stretched their winning streak this season to five games, upped their record to 6-4 against Calvin (9-4, 1-1) at Van Noord Arena and improved to 7-3 against the Knights under Neil's leadership.

It upped Hope's advantage in the all-time series to 97-89 and wiped away memories of last season, when the Flying Dutchmen suffered a pair of losses to the Knights, including the MIAA Tournament championship game.

"It was a big day for our whole team," Van Arendonk said. "To come here and get a win, this is what we needed today. In the past, we've been saying, 'Put together two halves and 40 minutes.' Tonight, I feel like our team finally put 40 minutes together. We're all happy and we all feel really good about this win.

"I wouldn't have cared if I score two points or 14, it's just good to get this win as a team."

Hope never trailed after erupting for a 10-0 scoring run in the opening minutes of the contest. The Knights were ahead 4-2, but VanArendonk hit a short jumper and fed teammate Brock Benson of Willowbrook, Ill. (Hinsdale South HS) in the post for another easy basket to ignite the run.

Eidson added a pair of exclamation points with a pair of 3-pointers.

Eidson connected on four of five shots from behind the arc in the first half. The last of those ended up being a from the right corner along the baseline that splashed through the net as the buzzer sounded. It propelled Hope to a 34-31 halftime lead and set the stage for even more fireworks from the Dutchmen in the second half.

"Obviously, it's a big game. We try to play every game like it's a championship game," Eidson said.

The Knights rallied to tie it up 41-41 midway through the second half.

Eidson, who finished with five assists and just one turnover, scored the next eight points, including two more 3-pointers, to fuel an 18-4 run. Van Arendonk hit a nifty hook shot during the run and freshmen Cody Stuive of Hudsonville (Hudsonville HS) and Chad Carlson of Rockford (Rockford HS) contributed 3-pointers to help seal the outcome.

Hope matched its season high as a team with nine 3-pointers in the game.

"It was a terrific basketball game between two great teams," Neil said. "(VanArendonk) got us off to a good start and Eddy hit some from the outside. Our focus has been pretty good about playing our rival."

An emphasis on post play made all the difference, he added.

Neil pointed to the 44-36 rebounding advantage for the Dutchmen and a commitment to defending the post as the biggest key to the contest. Calvin senior center Tyler Kruis scored 15 points, but Hope's interior defense forced him into 4-of-14 shooting from the field and limited him to just four rebounds and no blocked shots.

"The establishment of our post defense really made a difference. We went right at 'em," Neil said.

Eidson, VanArendonk and Stuive, who finished with 10, all achieved season highs in the contest. Sophomore guard Ben Gardner of Carmel, Ind. (Carmel HS), had 11 points, seven assists and three steals while Benson had four points.