Evan Thomas made 3-of-4 free throws in the final seconds to help Hope College hold on to beat St. John's University (Minn.) 62-58 on Saturday night.

It is the first win of the season for the Flying Dutchmen, who went 1-1 in the Jack Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational, hosted by Illinois Wesleyan. 

St. John's, which topped the honorable-mention list in the D3hoops.com preseason poll, fell to 2-2.

"We have a four-hour drive home, and it makes it easier when you win," head coach Greg Mitchell said. "Our guys are working so hard. We know how hard our schedule is. We'll continue to grow. It's a great feeling when you get a win."

Forward Jeff Bikus had a double-double for Hope with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Guard Clayton Dykhouse (Zeeland, Mich. / Zeeland East HS) and Thomas ( Okemos, Mich. / Okemos HS) each had 13 points and Noah Hedrick (Indianapolis, Ind. / Covenant Christian HS) had 12. 

With Hope trailing by one point, Bikus (Hawthorn Woods, Ill. / Mundelein HS) drained a 3-pointer with 1:58 left in the game to give the Flying Dutchmen a 57-55 lead. He had five-straight points during a 1-minute stretch.

"We celebrated that shot in the locker room after the game," Mitchell said. "They came storming back and we were down by one. And his 3 gave us the lead. That was a big, big basket."  

With 22 seconds left in the game, Thomas was fouled and made both free throws for a 61-57 lead. With 11.7 seconds left, Thomas was fouled again and made 1-of-2 for a 62-58 lead. 

"Those were huge free throw that he knocked down," Mitchell said. "He was just coming off a situation where it got kind of aggressive and he was called for a technical foul and the other guy got a flagrant (foul). So (Thomas) calmed down and made the free throws to seal it." 

At halftime, Hope led 30-28 after Thomas made a layup as time expired. 

Hedrick scored nine of his 12 points in the first half. 

"It's good to see Noah's support off the bench," Mitchell said. "He's a good offensive player and he's fearless. We needed it and he gave us a little boost." 

Ryan Thissen led the Johnnies with 19 points. St. John's went 3-for-25 from 3-point range.

The Flying Dutchmen return to play on Saturday, Nov. 20, at Benedictine University (Illinois) for a 5 p.m. contest.