MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[flash96]

How did the Hope Women do tonight?

Congratulations to the Hope Men!

[ChicagoHopeNut]

How did the Hope Women do tonight?

Congratulations to the Hope Men!

Just about halftime for the women. 20-20 according to the livestats on d3hoops.com main page.

Should be a close game until the end.

EDIT: 20-20 at the half. There appear to be some updates going on on the SCAC women's board if you can't listen to the radio feed.

Congratulations Hope College on a Final Four.  Enjoy Salem and good luck!

Ah crap!... Hope is going to finally get their banner.

I certainly hope so!

[NW Hope Fan]

Looks like a rematch w/ Wash U for the Dutchmen...

[usee]

Congrats to Hope. Wheaton did what they wanted tonight and it wasn't enough. Hope was better. 15-24 from the arc is amazing. Good luck in Salem.

[Hopester]

Now its is our turn for a rematch and "revenge" bring on Wash U. Going to the Final Four!!!!! Yeah!!!!

[hope1]

yes now a time for a remack go beat wash u  

[iceBerg]

Great game from Hope tonight.

Is there a defensive MVP for All American?  Klein?

[realist]

Another great game for Hope tonight.  Not sure they should make it a habit to spot other teams a 10-0 lead, but great recovery, and then control of the game.  Two more games to go, and definitely battle tested competition.
To bad the women just couldn't get it done down in TX.  Those 4 or 5 points are probably the difference in playing the game  on your home court.  Still a great season, and 30-1 isn't anything to be ashamed about.

[GoVols]

Another great game for Hope tonight.  Not sure they should make it a habit to spot other teams a 10-0 lead, but great recovery, and then control of the game.

If I recall, isn't that exactly what happened in 96 and 98? Hope falls behind by 8 or 10 first few minutes then plays event the rest of the way. Better not happen again.

[Happy Calvin Guy]

Now its is our turn for a rematch and "revenge" bring on Wash U. Going to the Final Four!!!!! Yeah!!!!

Ah but sweet revenge goes both ways in this game.  I'm sure avenging the MIAA is forefront on the Bears' mind now as they are still smarting from that November setback in Grand Rapids.   

[sac]

Now its is our turn for a rematch and "revenge" bring on Wash U. Going to the Final Four!!!!! Yeah!!!!

Ah but sweet revenge goes both ways in this game.  I'm sure avenging the MIAA is forefront on the Bears' mind now as they are still smarting from that November setback in Grand Rapids.   

Pretty sure Hope's had a Wash U rematch circled since 3-10-07 

[Hopester]

Looking at these four teams in the Final Four, three of them are about the same distance away from Salem. Amherst, Wash U., and Hope are all about equidistant from Salem, while Ursinus is half as far roughly. I don't know if this fives them any advantage, but it might give Hope a significant advantage over the other two, as we travel better then any team in the country.

Hope-- 679 miles to Salem
Wash U.-- 676
Amherst-- 635
Ursinus-- 380

[sac]

Hope 83 Wheaton 70

Wish I could say it was fun, but boy was that tense.  Mr. Cool, Calm and collected couldn't handle that game tonight and frankly I lost it a few times.  Maybe it was just the intensity of a quarterfinal game........there was little doubt those were two teams out there giving it 110%, and you had to applaud the effort.  I'm most happy that both teams made it out of that game without any serious injuries (as far as I know).


We should have expected Wheaton to come out fired up and they were, but once again Hope didn't flinch and just sort of dug in a little bit more and from a 0-10 deficit to 15-12 up in about 5 minutes was one of the biggest keys in the game.  Wheaton could never take charge and control the game, and really from that point on were playing from behind all but a couple of times it was tied.

Without question Hope did a terrific job on Raymond, a real team effort with Van Solkema, Carter and Ryan "Kryptonite" Klein teaming up and trading off on him most of the night.  But the other 4 guys on the floor, whoever they were always seemed to be around to provide a little bit more pressure.  Hope seemed really content to let Wheaton try and beat them with everyone else, for the most part the Thunder did take advantage of those opportunites.  But on a night when Hope shot the ball that well, they just needed more.


There was one moment in the game that I think for me kind of typified being a Hope fan in these big game situations.  Hope makes a great play to close out the half with a simple layup that surely puts them up by 7.......but the ball somehow stays out, Wheaton rebounds and launches a wild half court banker to close to 2.  Its just one of the moments where all the negative things that have ever happened to Hope go flashing through your brain.  We could have all used a stiff drink at that point.

Zack Osburn hit his first career 3 in 4 attempts tonight, and I guess at that point we should have known it was Hope's night.  In the first half Hope had 5 treys, all from forwards Klein 2, Vanderheide 2 and Osburn.  Once the guards started going and most importantly Jesse Reimink, the flood gates kind of opened up......yet again.

I have more times than I care to remember criticized Hope for its poor end of game execution over the past 3 seasons, where too many times they ended up with only 3 point shots and typically a loss.  Tonight Hope made 4 3's  in the final 5 minutes and each was just another tiny dagger in any Wheaton comeback attempt.

http://www.miaa.org/mbb/stats/0708/0314whea.htm


So on a night with a game that was tough to really enjoy, it was great to be able to watch your team cut down its own net, in front of its own fans, with many of the same smiling faces who did it in 1998.

We are going back to Salem!

[sac]

------Hope missed its first 3, 3-point attempts of the night and made 15 of their next 21.  Thats really phenomenal.

Not only did Hope tie the DeVos Fieldhouse record with 15 treys, but they broke the 3pt% record at 62.5%, which I'm pretty sure is also a Hope team record, though it appears they do not keep track of such a stat.  I'd be surprised if its higher but I suppose there's a 7-10 performance out there somewhere.

-----Derek VanSolkema had a great weekend, I kind of missed his career best 24 points Friday but only because I thought he'd had a higher career best last year.  Derek went 7-14 from 3 this weekend, but made numerous other key shots.  He was part of the triangle of Hope players that traded off on Kent Raymond defensively, and did an admirable job.  Tonight he had Andrew Jahns pretty much sharing a uniform from one end of the court to the other on offense...........Derek had ZERO turnovers.  All on a knee that none of us probably really know how it felt.


-----I don't know if Hope's the best team going to Salem, I kind of doubt it.  I do know Amherst and Washington are solid programs with talented players.  I know nothing of Ursinas (yes FDF I know its right behind my nose).  I just think its great this group of Hope players gets another chance at Washington, for good or bad, things just couldn't have worked out better for this team.   Hope's had a great 3 year run, I really don't know if it can or will continue beyond this year but I do feel it would have been a shame if during this brief moment in time that a Hope team as good as the last 3 have been didn't get a chance to shine on D3's biggest stage.  Now they get that chance and I couldn't be happier for every one of them.

[sac]

In case anyone was wondering, Hope will play in the 2nd game Friday night, and Hope has been designated the home team for both games it plays regardless of the opponent.

......and I hope I don't get slapped for it but Hope received 700 tickets from the NCAA tonight for Salem.

They know us well