ADRIAN, Mich. - The difference at the free throw line was the difference in the game on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 12) as the men's basketball team dropped a 59-55 decision to Hope College. The Flying Dutchmen, currently ranked second in the Great Lakes Regional rankings, were 23-of-27 (.852) from the charity stripe while Adrian was 13-of-17 (.765) for the contest. Hope went 17-of-20 in the second half alone and needed everyone of them in this tightly-contested game.
Adrian led 25-24 at halftime in a game that featured seven ties and six lead changes. Colton Overway had seven points in the first half to lead Hope, while Wesley Reed scored nine points to lead Adrian. Hope shot 34.6 percent in the first half and misfired on all five three-pointers. Adrian shot 34.5 percent in the opening half and connected on 3-of-11 from behind the arc.
The two teams were deadlocked at 33-33 with 14:05 left in the contest as it was the seventh and final tie of the game. Hope went on a 10-4 run over the next two and a half minutes to take a 43-37 lead with 10:32 remaining. Adrian cut the lead down to 44-42 on a Jovon Mosley jumper but the Flying Dutchmen responded with an 8-0 run to take their largest lead of 10 points at 52-42 with 5:48 to play.
The Bulldogs fought back to four points at 54-50 with 4:06 remaining as Delano Collins hit two free throws followed by a Sean Gallant layup and a fast-break layup by Collins. Dennis Mason had a dunk and completed the three-point play to make it 57-55 with 1:42 remaining. Adrian played great defense and got the ball back with 44 seconds to go. The Bulldogs could not run the play they wanted a committed a turnover with 10 seconds left. Ty Tanis made both free throws after being fouled and that sealed it for Hope.
AC struggled to find their deep stroke going 4-of-19 from behind the arc. Reed finished with 14 points and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field. He was hurt by foul trouble and played just 21 minutes. Mosley added 14 points to share team-high honors with Reed. He made his mark at the free throw line going 7-of-8 and also grabbed five rebounds. Mason and Gallant also had nine points each. Gallant grabbed nine rebounds including four offensive boards. Mason had five rebounds and four blocked shots in 28 minutes.
Adrian's loss puts them in the middle of the pack in the MIAA (6-6) with two games remaining to end the regular season.
