The Hope College men's basketball team passed a big test.

The Flying Dutchmen made plays on both ends of DeVette-Van Wieren Court down the stretch on Saturday to secure a 67-57, non-league victory against Wittenberg University (Ohio).

Hope improved to 5-2 overall while snapping a two-game losing streak thatcincluded giving up two late leads at home. Senior forward Tanner Wiegerink led the Flying Dutchmen with career-highs in points with 25 and rebounds with 13.

The positive results — after final exams on campus this week and against a Wittenberg team tied for second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings — were rewarding, head coach Greg Mitchell said.

"It's huge because we had these seven games at home, and we were kind of grooving, then two tough losses," Mitchell said. "You've got to find your mojo again, find that feeling again where the locker room is happy after the game. That's what we found."

The win was the 1,703rd all-time for Hope. The Flying Dutchmen rank fourth all-time in NCAA Division III.

Wittenberg, which tops Division III with 1,846 victories, fell to 7-4 on the season.

After Hope built as much as a 10-point lead during the second half, Wittenberg pulled with five points at 58-53 after Dawson Scott split a trip to the foul line with 4 ½ minutes remaining.

The Flying Dutchmen scored on three of their next four possessions. 

Hope produced a jumper from sophomore guard Marcus Wourman (East Lansing, Michigan / East Lansing) and layups from Wiegerink (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) and senior guard Clayton Dykhouse (Zeeland, Michigan / Zeeland East) to extend the lead to 64-55 with 1:40 remaining.

Dykhouse chipped in 13 points. Wourman added 10.

Defensively, the Flying Dutchmen forced a turnover and two contested jumpers that Wittenberg missed during that stretch.

"It wasn't pretty, but I thought defensively we were engaged, especially in the second half which made a big difference," Mitchell said.

Hope, which trailed 10-1 four minutes into the game, outshot Wittenberg from the field 44.6% to 36.0%. 

The Flying Dutchmen also finished plus-10 on the glass.

Wiegerink led the charge offensively, shooting 46.7% from the field (7-15) and 83.3% from the foul line (10-12). The 6-7 senior also blocked four shots.

Junior guard Sam Carlson (Superior, Colorado / Monarch) contributed greatly as well, Mitchell said.

Carlson played a career-high 25 minutes while helping to defend Wittenberg's leading scorer, guard Trey Killens, who finished with a game-high 25 points. 

Wittenberg aided the Flying Dutchmen by shooting 64.3% from the free-throw line (18-28) despite taking twice as many attempts.

The home game was Hope's final one in a seven-game stretch to open the season.

The Flying Dutchmen play their next six games away from DeVos Fieldhouse, including two in Chicago before Christmas and two in New York City before New Year's Eve.

Hope's next game is Wednesday, Dec. 20, at 7 p.m. Central at North Central College (Ill.).