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Hope College

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Parkey Hovey cradles a basketball.
Junebug Photography
Pictured, Parker Hovey
60
Winner Hope Hope 4-2,0-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
59
Ohio Wesleyan OWU 3-5,0-1 NCAC
Winner
Hope Hope
4-2,0-0 Michigan Intercol. Ath. Assn.
60
Final
59
Ohio Wesleyan OWU
3-5,0-1 NCAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Hope Hope 37 23 60
Ohio Wesleyan OWU 26 33 59

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Greg Chandler

Parker Hovey-Led Men's Basketball Edges Ohio Wesleyan

Hope wins for baci-to-back games in Ohio

The Hope College men's basketball team closed out its weekend swing through the state of Ohio with another nail-biting win Saturday afternoon, edging Ohio Wesleyan University 60-59 at Branch Rickey Arena in Delaware, Ohio.

Hope, which won at Ohio Northern University 71-64 on Friday, is now on a three-game winning streak and 4-2 overall.

Head coach Greg Mitchell was proud of how his team met the challenge of winning two road tests in less than 24 hours.

"The biggest thing is winning back-to-back on the road, and winning against two totally different styles of play. Last night was very fast-paced. Today was a little more methodical because they played zone the whole time," Mitchell said. "We built a 10-point lead today. It would have been nice to build more on that, but we knew they were going to play hard the whole second half. I'm thrilled our captains made some big plays."

The Flying Dutchmen trailed, 59-56, with a little more than a minute remaining. Junior forward Parker Hovey (Shelby, Michigan / Hart) scored on a layup with 43 seconds left to pull Hope within one.

Hope then forced an OWU miss and grabbed the loose ball. Following a miss, Hovey grabbed another offensive rebound and was fouled with 11 seconds remaining.

After the Flying Dutchmen timeout, senior guard Marcus Wourman (Lansing, Michigan / East Lansing) found a cutting Hovey in the paint on the inbounds pass, where he was fouled.

Hovey, who entered the game shooting 61.1% from the free-throw line, made both foul shots to put Hope ahead. The Battling Bishops (3-5) then missed a shot in the paint on their final possession. Wourman grabbed the rebound to secure the victory.

Hovey finished with a game-high 21 points, tying his career-high after hitting 8-of-10 shots from the field and all five of his free throws. He also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

"It's hard to get clean action against their zone," Mitchell said. "Parker dove in. He really wasn't open, but Marcus made a good pass in a tough situation. Parker stepped up and hit two big free throws."

The Flying Dutchmen started the game strong, jumping out to an 11-2 lead about 3-and-a-half minutes into the contest. Ohio Wesleyan battled back to cut the lead to 29-26 with 2:17 remaining in the first half.

However, Hope closed out the half on an 8-0 run, capped by a Hovey layup just before the buzzer, and the Dutchmen went to the locker room with a 37-26 halftime lead.

The Battling Bishops lived up to their nickname in the second half, going on an 11-0 run to erase a 10-point Hope lead and grab a 44-43 advantage with a little more than 12 minutes to play. The lead changed hands several times before OWU went on a six-point run to lead 59-56 with 1:06 left, setting the stage for Hope's final rally.

Junior forward Simon Neuhaus (Grand Rapids, Michigan / East Grand Rapids) played a solid game off the bench as he contributed 10 points. Freshman guard Avery Sanchez (Turlock, California / John H. Pitman) dished out seven assists and pulled down six rebounds while committing just one turnover in 24 minutes of action.

Hope shot 39.3 percent from the field (24 of 61), but dominated the inside, outscoring Ohio Wesleyan in the paint by a 34-22 margin. The Flying Dutchmen also made the most of their free throw opportunities, sinking 8 of 9 from the line while the Bishops missed eight of their 15 free throws.

After a week of exams, the Flying Dutchmen return to action Saturday, December 13 on the DeVette-Van Wieren Court at DeVos Fieldhouse for a non-conference matchup with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Tip-off is 3 p.m.
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