Men’s basketball team downed by Hope, 84-70

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's basketball team fell to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Hope College, 84-70, today at the Cutler Event Center.

Final Score: Hope 84, Olivet 70
Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
Records: Hope 16-6 overall, 9-2 MIAA; Olivet 6-17 overall, 3-9 MIAA

• The game was back-and-forth for the first five minutes. Hope led by five points, 16-11, at the 13:24 mark. Six straight Flying Dutchmen points gave them their first double digit lead. Hope extended its lead to 19 points, 33-14, with 7:21 left until halftime. The Comets fought back and closed the gap to 11 points, 33-22, at the 4:39 mark. The Flying Dutchmen took a 40-26 lead into the locker room.
• Olivet scored the first six points of the second half to trail by only eight, 40-32. The Comets were not able to get any closer for the rest of the game.

• Senior Chris Martin posted a double-double, 18 points and 15 rebounds, to lead Olivet. Eight of his 15 rebounds were offensive.
• Freshman Lorris Upshaw scored 11 points off the bench.
• Junior Noah Wiswary netted 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting, including 3-of-3 from behind the arc.
• Senior Eddie Thigpen recorded six assists.

• "We got off to a pretty bad start trying to make shots, in the paint, around the rim, free throws," said Olivet head coach Sam Hargraves. "It felt like we had some pretty good chances, and we either didn't finish tough enough or we just didn't finish. Also, which happens too often, we had 10 first half turnovers but cut it down to only four in the second half. But we dug ourselves such a hole, which is hard to get out most of the time. We had some very basic defensive breakdowns against a play that we run, which gave them some easy baskets that way. But the main story is shooting 28 free throws is great, but making only 11 is just unthinkable."

• Evan Thomas tallied a game-high 22 points and team-leading nine rebounds.
• Clayton Dykhouse contributed 15 points and six assists.
• Jeff Bikus added nine points and seven rebounds.

• The Comets travel to play Albion College next Wednesday, February 16. Tip-off from inside Kresge Gymnasium is 6 p.m.