Men's basketball team defeated by Hope, 99-70

The Olivet College men's basketball team was defeated by defending Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) regular season champion Hope College, 99-70, this afternoon at the DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland.

The Comets (3-9, 1-1 MIAA) scored the first two points of the game, but that would be their only lead of the game. The Flying Dutchmen (10-2, 2-0 MIAA) built their lead to as many as 22 points on three occasions with the last time being, 46-24, with 52 seconds left in the first half. Olivet trailed 46-27 at halftime.

Hope opened the second half with a 14-2 run to take the first of four 31-point leads in the game. The closest the Comets would get the rest of the way was 24 points, 76-52, with just under nine minutes remaining.

For Olivet, freshman Andy Sierminski (Jackson/Lumen Christi) led all scorers with a career-high 22 points on eight-of-14 shooting from the floor, including six-of-seven from behind the three-point arc. Junior Brandon Way (Detroit/Southwestern) contributed 20 points, including five three-pointers. As a team, the Comets broke the DeVos Fieldhouse record with 12 three-pointers. Sierminski and freshman Andre Williams (Detroit/Highland Park) each grabbed five rebounds.

The Dutchmen had six players reach double figures. Jesse Reimink led the way with 14 points, followed by Stephen Cramer, Tim Partridge and Derek Van Solkema with 12 points a piece. Reimink and Marcus Vanderheide each had six rebounds.

The Comets will continue MIAA play Wednesday, Jan. 10, when they travel to play Tri-State (Ind.) University. The tip-off from Hershey Hall in Angola is 7:30 p.m.