by Alan Babbitt
After a long wait to play, the Hope College men's basketball team enjoyed much of Friday's season-opening game at DeVos Fieldhouse. Except the finish.
Alma College rallied late to edge the Flying Dutchmen, 65-64, on Cole Kliever's go-ahead jumper with eight seconds remaining in regulation.
Hope missed two separate opportunities to score during the final second. Alma, playing its fourth game of the season, held on for its first victory.
"It's a game if it were 35 minutes, we'd be feeling pretty good," head coach Greg Mitchell said. "We played so hard, so well. We were thrilled to play. We played with great emotion. Our bench was incredible. We made so many tough plays for 34, 35 minutes. Maybe we got tired. I don't know.
"The main thing I told the guys was we gave them opportunities in the second half that we didn't allow in the first half at all."
Photo of Jeff Bikus by Lynne Powe
Alma outscored the Flying Dutchmen 19-4 over the final 6 minutes, 28 seconds.
Guard Cole Kleiver hit a runner in the lane with eight seconds remaining to give the Scots a one-point lead. He finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-24 shooting from the field.
"Credit to him," Mitchell said of Kleiver. "He made a tough runner in the lane that was well-defended."
Hope forward Evan Thomas tried to answer, but his off-balanced lay-up hit the front of the rim. Alma grabbed the rebound but after the Flying Dutchmen fouled Jack Poling, he missed free throws.
The Flying Dutchmen got possession on a dead ball rebound with four-tenths of a second. Thomas got off a shot from the wing, but it was off the mark.
Thomas finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The sophomore from Okemos, Michigan (Okemos HS) was one of four Hope players in doubles figures.
Junior forward Jeff Bikus (Hawthorn Hills, Illinois/Mundelein) netted a career-high 11 points to share team-high honors with senior guard Danny Beckman (Shelby, Michigan/Shelby).
It was Beckman's first game back after missing last season due to injury.
Junior guard Tyler George (Ada, Michigan/Forest Hills Central) added 10 points. He hit a 3-pointer for a 64-63 lead with 28 seconds remaining to end Hope's seven-minute scoring drought.
Senior forward Ryan Gamm (Rockford, Michigan/Rockford) pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with six points.
Hope's next game is Saturday, January 30 at 3 p.m. at Calvin University.
It is the 204th game of The Rivalry. The Flying Dutchmen lead the all-time series, 103-100.
The game will be televised in West Michigan on WGVU.
"The guys are college kids. They love to play," Mitchell said of the quick turnaround. "Playing against Calvin will be a fun opportunity for us."