A stifling defensive effort propelled the Hope College men's basketball team to a bounceback performance on Wednesday at Alma College
The Flying Dutchmen recorded a 76-53 victory by allowing the fewest points they had all season.
Hope (12-8 overall) won for the fifth in six games and rebounded from a 79-78 loss to Albion College on Saturday. With a 6-3 league record, the Flying Dutchmen remain in sole possession of third place in the MIAA standings — one game ahead of fourth-place Olivet College.
Alma (5-15, 2-7 MIAA) shot 31.7% from the field (28-58) and 23.1% from 3-point range (6-26).
"From the opening tip, it was our best defensive effort of the season without question," head coach Greg Mitchell said, "from a communication standpoint to an execution standpoint and, most important, to an effort standpoint. It was what we needed to see."
Hope never trailed after senior guard Clayton Dykhouse buried a 3-pointer 19 seconds in on the game's first possession.
The Flying Dutchmen led, 31-26, at halftime. Hope opened the second half on a 9-0 run while holding the Scots scoreless for 4 ½ minutes.
Offensively, senior forward Evan Thomas (Okemos, Michigan / Okemos) topped a balanced Hope effort with 14 points.
Three teammates joined Thomas in doubles figures: junior forward Tanner Wiegerink (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) with 13 points, freshman guard Marcus Wourman (East Lansing, Michigan / East Lansing) with 11, and senior forward TJ McKenzie Jr. (North Muskegon, Michigan / North Muskegon) with 10.
The Flying Dutchmen totaled 16 assists — their most in five games. Wourman led Hope with a career-high five.
Mitchell said spreading out minutes among players paid off as the Flying Dutchmen maximized effort on both ends of the court.
"We wore them down," Mitchell said. "The first half wasn't great. We had 11 turnovers; that was the one problem we had. But we had a great number of assists, which has been a problem. The ball moved. We finished some players. It was a good Hope effort."
The Flying Dutchmen's next game is Saturday, Feb. 4, at 3 p.m. at Adrian College.