Hope College men's basketball tops Hendrix in overtime
In a game that featured 22 lead changes, the Hope College men’s basketball team hung on to defeat Hendrix 75-71 in overtime on Saturday in the WashU tournament in St. Louis.
After a tough loss in the tournament opener on Friday, and playing with out starting guards Evan Thomas and Clayton Dykhouse, Hope coach Greg Mitchell said the team brough the much-needed energy.
"I love how he responded. We challenged the guys to play with more emotion. Yesterday was not acceptable. We out-toughed them in all areas today," Mitchell said. "Any time you are going without your two leading scorers, it is going to be a tough road. It is the next man up. We have a lot of guys on our roster who can make plays. We saw a glimpse of who we can be."
Thomas, who played Friday, was out with an undisclosed injury, while Dykhouse did not make the trip with the team because of a non-COVID-related illness.
There were plenty of Hope (4-3) teammates who stepped up to fill the void.
Noah Hedrick tied the game 63-63 at the end of regulation with a layup with 50 seconds remaining in the second half.
Hope forced a turnover, but a buzzer-beater by Tyler George was off the mark, forcing overtime.
Hedrick put Hope up 70-67 with a 3-pointer with 2:19 to go in overtime on an assist from Tanner Wiegerink (West Ottawa).
The Flying Dutchmen made their free throws to seal the win as Jeff Bikus hit both of his attempts and George went 3-for-4.
Hope shot 37.1% from the field and 30% from 3-point range. The Flying Dutchmen also went 14-for-18 from the free-throw line.
Hendrix shot 36.1%, 33.3% from 3-point range and went 21-for-28 from the free-throw line. Hope won the rebounding battle 41-36 and both teams had 14 turnovers, though Hendrix score 16 points off of those turnovers, while Hope scored just eight.
A huge spot for the Flying Dutchmen was bench points, outscoring Hendrix 27-16, led by Hedrick with 15 points and Jaxon Halbert (Holland Christian) with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Bikus led Hope with 18 points and grabbed six rebounds. Sam Ver Steeg had 11 points in a starting role, while George had eight, Josh Lilja had seven and Wiegerink had four.
"Sam played great and Noah was great at the end," Mitchell said. "We extended some possessions and a lot of little plays became big plays, like Jaxon Halbert making a couple of 3s when we were down 9-10."
Seth Stanley led Hendrix with 26 points.
— Contact Sports Editor Dan D'Addona at Dan.D'Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona and Facebook @Holland Sentinel Sports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hope College men's basketball tops Hendrix in overtime
