Hope falls to Calvin in finale giving MIAA regular-season title to Olivet
· Yahoo Sports
GRAND RAPIDS - It was a double whammy for Hope College on Saturday.
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The Flying Dutchmen men’s basketball team lost their biggest game of the season and the MIAA regular-season championship in the same day.
Hope College lost to Calvin University 96-88 on Saturday, Feb. 21, in a packed house at Van Noord Arena.
“Obviously not the result we were looking for,” Hope coach Greg Mitchell said. “Real good game though.”
The Flying Dutchmen entered the day tied with Olivet University atop the MIAA standings with 11-2 records. But Hope lost on Saturday and Olivet beat Trine University for its first conference title since 1972. That means Olivet will host the MIAA Tournament instead of Hope.
“I’m excited to get going next week,” Mitchell said. “Our championship aspirations are delayed. That’s how we’re looking at it.”
Hope College had trouble containing Jalen Overway, the 6-foot-9 Calvin center, who had a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds.
“Jay’s gonna get his,” Mitchell said of the Holland Christian grad. “We tried to neutralize some of the other guys. And they stepped up and made big shots.”
When Hope tried to double team Overway, that left Trevin Winkle open. The Calvin senior scored a career-high 24 points.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Winkle said. “You always want to play well in these rivalries. My teammates did a great job finding me for open looks. There’s a lot of pressure on Jay, so he makes good passes. He makes it easy.”
Overway was surprised Hope didn’t double team him early in the game.
“At first, they didn’t double at all,” he said. “Then they switched things up. I think the first 10 minutes of the second half, they held me to like two points. They did a good job there.”
Hope freshman Brendan Cargill had a team-high 19 points. The high-energy guard was the sole reason that Hope took their only lead of the game with 6 minutes to go in the first half. Trailing 32-26, he hit back-to-back 3-pointers, then stole a pass and went in for a layup for a 34-32 lead.
“Our guys have trust in him,” Mitchell said of Cargill. “Our offense was clicking when Brendan was getting his (points). That’s how you have to play.”
Hope ends the regular season 11-3 in the MIAA AND 16-9 overall. Calvin is 10-4 in conference and 18-7 overall.
Overway’s final game at home
It was Senior Night for Calvin on Saturday.
Jalen Overway was one of five Knights who were honored before the game.
He posed for a photo with his parents Jeff and Linda Overway.
"It’s crazy how fast it comes,” Overway said. “I’ve been here for four years with the same guys. It’s super special walking out there with my parents. It’s sad how quick it came.”
Overway is a two-time MIAA MVP and likely will win a third this season.
Calvin also honored great Steve Honderd at halftime. He won two MVPs in the early 1990s.
High scoring game
The 184 combined points are the most in a Hope-Calvin rivalry game since 1989.
In that game, both current head coaches - Greg Mitchell and Bill Sall - were still players.
“What a game,” Sall said. “I didn’t expect it to be that high scoring. I don’t know when the last time a Calvin-Hope game got into the 90s.”
When he was told it was back in 1989, Calvin’s Trevin Winkle said to Sall, “I bet you had 30 in that game.”
“It was actually 38,” Sall said with a smile.
Said Mitchell: “As much as we put into a defensive focus, it was like who is going to get to 95 or 100 first. It was kind of a different Calvin-Hope game.”
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hope basketball falls to rival Calvin and it cost an MIAA title