Feb. 26, 2010

Final Stats

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Adrian College men's basketball team was defeated by Hope College by the final score of 75-66 Friday night at VanNoord Arena. The game was tied at 32-32 after the first half of action. Hope was able to go on a small run in the second half, and the Flying Dutchmen sealed the victory with good free throw shooting.

Jovon Mosley led Adrian in scoring with 13. Adrian had a balanced offensive attack as Lamar Cardenas chipped in with 10 points and Matt Wayne added nine. The freshman duo of Blair Ramsey and Delano Collins each played well. Each player ended the game with eight points.

Peter Bunn scored a game-high 19 points for Hope. Bunn was focused at the charity stripe as he hit nine of his ten attempts at the line. Will Bowser and Andy Venema also scored in double digits for the Flying Dutchmen.

Adrian was hot in the first half as they shot 60 percent from the floor. Hope also shot well (50%) and the two teams ended the first 20 minutes of action tied at 32-32.

The first half was a battle. The two teams were tied six times and there were three lead changes. Hope got the tip and took a two point lead on their first possession. The Flying Dutchmen got into a full court zone press after the bucket, and would remain in the trap press for the entire half.

Matt Wayne scored the first basket of the game for the Bulldogs. Wayne hit a jumper from the elbow at the 17:25 mark to make the game 4-2 in favor of Hope. The Bulldogs also went with full court pressure after the made field goal.

Hope got a transition layup, and then forced an AC turnover off the zone press to grab an 8-2 lead. The Bulldogs called a timeout, and Mosley hit a big three point shot from the corner to make the game 8-5.

Nate Snuggerud impacted the first half off the bench by making back-to-back jumpers in the paint increasing the Hope lead. Dennis Mason checked in the game and ended the run with a field goal off an assist from Blair Ramsey. Moments later Delano Collins cut the lead to four points with a strong move to the basket ending in a made reverse layup. Mason came back into the AC offense by knocking down a baseline jumper that cut the lead to two points.

Ramsey tied the game just under midway through the first half. Ramsey isolated his defender at the top of the key and used a nice crossover to get by his defender leading to the layup. After a missed shot by Hope, Mason gave Adrian their first lead of the game with eight minutes remaining in the half.

Adrian held the lead until the 4:42 mark as Hope went on an 8-0 run thanks to Peter Bunn. Bunn scored the first four points of the run, and Josh Holwerda hit a jumper to regain the lead for the Flying Dutch. Cardenas ended the run with a three point basket with just under three minutes to play to tie the game at 26-26. Both teams would hit free throws down the stretch and the first half ended in a tie 32-32.

The second half did not start well for Adrian. Hope got the ball inside on their opening possession and Wayne picked up his third foul of the game early. Wayne continued to play hard as he grabbed an offensive rebound and finished while being fouled to give Adrian a 37-34 lead.

The zone press forced some turnovers and Hope was able to regain the lead. Joseph Kopicki impacted the second half by scoring his first bucket of the game with a strong drive through the lane. The layup cut the lead to 45-42, but Kopicki wasn't done as he hit a big three point shot with time running out on the shot clock to tie the game at 45-45.

Bunn answered with a three pointer from the corner for Hope forcing AC to call a timeout with just under 14 minutes to play. Things went downhill for Adrian seconds after as Wayne picked up his fourth personal foul at the 13:25 mark. Hope knocked down two free throws and therefore held a five point lead.

Adrian never took the lead after that point. They came close midway through the half thanks to Mosley. Mosley grabbed an offensive board in the paint and went back up strong to get the bucket and the foul. He connected on his free throw attempt and got Adrian within one point, 51-50.

Bunn once again extended the lead for Hope after hitting a pair of free throws, but AC battled back to get within one point after a reverse layup by Chris Primley.

The turning point of the game came when Hope went on a 5-0 run in less than a minute to open up a six point lead. Logan Neil recovered a loose ball rebound and hit a jumper while being fouled to start the run. Neil hit his free throw to complete the three point play. Seconds later Josh Holwerda made a layup giving Hope the six point advantage.

The Bulldogs were unable to cut into the lead and Hope finished strong from the free throw line to earn the 75-66 win.