The Hope College men's basketball team shined on a bright sunny afternoon at DeVos Fieldhouse on Saturday.

The Flying Dutchmen started fast and cruised to an 87-69 victory against Olivet College on Alumni Day.

Led by sophomore center Gabe Quillan, Hope shook off a low-scoring loss to Trine University and recorded their third-highest scoring game of the season.

The Flying Dutchmen (14-9, 8-4 MIAA) clinched the No. 3 seed for the upcoming MIAA Tournament with two regular-season games remaining. Hope's next game is on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m. at Calvin University, which clinched the MIAA's top postseason seed with a 67-56 home win against Trine on Saturday.

"Just keeping it as simple as possible and loving the chance to play on a Saturday afternoon in DeVos," head coach Greg Mitchell said when asked about the approach to the matchup against fourth-place Olivet. "I think the energy of the alums being here (helped).  Everything we've been through, it was bringing us down a little. We've got to rediscover the great joy of this game and playing in front of this awesome crowd."

Hope never trailed after jumping to a 9-0 lead in the first 2 minutes, 13 seconds. The Flying Dutchmen sank four of their five field-goal attempts and went on to shoot 52.6% from the field during the opening 20 minutes while taking a 52-33 halftime lead.

Quillan (Ada, Michigan / Grand Rapids Catholic Central HS poured in 16 of his game-high 28 points during the first half on 7-of-9 shooting.

Freshman guard Marcus Wourman (East Lansing, Michigan / East Lansing) totaled 12 of his 14 points before halftime.

Defensively, Hope limited Olivet to 36.1% from the field.

"A lot of the start was seeing the ball going through the hoop," Mitchell said, "but I thought we guarded hard. I think that gave us great energy. And, the big fella was pretty good, too. He's so confident; his touch in the lane is huge. The guys finding him was clutch."

The Flying Dutchmen finished the game shooting 51.5% (36-66) — their best performance from the field in nine games. Quillan led the production at 81.3 percent (13-16).

Quillan also grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds for his second double-double in three games and fifth overall.

Senior guard Clayton Dykhouse (Zeeland, Michigan / Zeeland East) chipped in 13 points and a team-best four assists.

Olivet (9-14, 5-7) was led by Ryan Robinette's 14 points off the bench. Haidyn Garrison and Nolan Finkbeiner added 11 points apiece.