Box Score
Hope started all Sr's, Seiler, DeMaagd, Ray, Snuggerud, Holwerda. Minutes distribution in this one became pretty inconsequential early in the 2nd half. Short nights for a number of guys. Every one who could, played.
Game Recap:
(Feeling pretty cruddy today so this won't be much of an effort)
Quite a contrast from the road trip to Olivet 3 1/2 weeks ago. The early part of the first half of this looked a little bit too much like that one from a defensive side of things as Hope left Olivet a lot of wide open 3's. 9 of Olivet's first 11 shots from the floor were 3-point attempts, this is what Olivet does well and they have all season so it was a little aggravating to me that Hope made it so easy for them to launch away.
By a little past midway point of the half Hope went a little smaller and started to control the game better, Gardner, Seiler, Eidson and Snuggerud combined numerous times as Hope began to pull away and led by 10 at the break.
Early in the second half Hope put this one to rest with some very good play from the starting 5 again and by the 5 minutes mark had built the lead to about 20 points. Hope did a better job protecting the 3-point line and seemed willing to give Olivet the easier two's while forcing the pace of the game up to a level Olivet just wasn't going to be able to keep up with.
Hope's bench continued the good play and the margin was over 30 before Olivet cut into that in the last 3 minutes to make this one a 22 point game, but it really wasn't even that close.
Olivet's road woes continued, they now drop to 0-6 away from Cutler in the league with double-digit losses in all of them. I think for me the difference at home and away has been their commitment to defense. At home they've been good at controlling the game with a big difference in defensive effort, most of their road games have been played at too high of a scoring pace for them to succeed. In order for them to win Saturday at Calvin they have to compete better on defense and make some kind of effort to rebound.
Rue the day. In this now 8 year stretch of years that Hope has won the MIAA or finished just 1 game back of first place its been a loss outside of the big rivalry with Calvin that ultimately cost them the title. In '06 it was losing at Albion where Calvin beat them, in '09 it was losing at Albion by 3, and in 2010 it was losing at Olivet by 3. Elsewhere I've made the comparison between this team and the 2010 team, and so it will be for this team that they'll rue their trip to Olivet that cost them a piece of the MIAA Championship. The loss at Olivet may prove even bigger however because without that Hope might even be regionally ranked right now, and would be sitting a heck of a lot better come selection day had they won that game. Ultimately that one game may cost Hope a lot.
Scoring and Interesting Stats:
3 point shooting: Olivet attempted 28 in this one to go with the 25 they put up back in January. Tonight it didn't matter much because Hope was so much better on the offensive end of the floor, there was little Olivet would be able to do to keep up.
Defense: Obviously not a stat, but Hope held DaunTrell Hill to zero points and Garner Small just 2. These two guys are important parts of Olivet's offensive success. Small has struggled to score his last 3 games
Points in the paint: Hope dominated it outscoring the Comets 56-18 and is about a 20 point improvement over last time, which also happens to be about the to improvement in final margin.
Nate Snuggerud: 23 points, 11 rebounds.......there was a point or two in this game where it looked like Nate would just take over and dominate. Olivet had no one to defend him.
Billy Seiler: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists.....had some really good minutes and like Nate played with a determination that's hard to measure
Ben Gardner: 12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists..... had some really impressive passes last night. He's good.
Efficiency:
Estimated number of possessions: Hope 74 Olivet 74
This ends up being a slower pace than the game at Olivet which was very sloppy from a turnovers perspective and had more FT attempts. This one sure felt faster than this.
Offensive Efficiency: 117.61
Night and day to the first meeting where Hope struggled to reach an 80 eff. Both halves were very good with the second being a little higher.
Defensive Efficiency: 87.69
This is good of course and very similar to what Hope did to them down at Olivet and only serves to illustrate how God awful Hope was on offense that day to be able to lose that game. Both halves were solid.
Rebounding Efficiency:
Hope: 73.3% of available offensive rebounds
Olivet: 23.3% of available offensive rebounds
I'm actually laughing at these numbers. Olivet just didn't compete on the boards at all, on their offensive end they were so concerned with getting back on defense or had 5 guys outside the arc that it was pretty easy for Hope. Sad thing is this is quite an improvement from the first game where they had 3 offensive rebounds. Hope dominated its own glass with a number that looks fake. Second chance points was 21-4, that's not fake and was a major reason Olivet couldn't keep up.
Moment of Keys to the Game:
Putting this one away early in the second half, it was a strong 5 minutes that removed all doubt that Hope would win last night. Olivet had no chance after those first 5 minutes.
Strong interior play against a team that frankly Hope should dominate inside. Not being able to do so at Olivet cost them that game.
Adjusting the defense to go smaller and force Olivet to put 2 point shots up rather than 3's. When that happened the Hope lead started expanding.
My Game Ball Goes To:
Nate Snuggerud played about as well as he has this year, it was his paint area last night and Olivet was mostly powerless to stop him.
Standings
Snuggerud - 6
Overway - 4
VanArendonk - 2
Eidson - 2
Seiler - 2
Gardner - 2
Byers - 1
DeMaagd - 1
Benson - 1
Neil -1
Everyone -1
Going Forward:
Hope's week of redemption went well, reversing two previous losses with wins on their home court. Those previous two losses were two of the weaker performances I can remember in recent Hope basketball history. What's different? Just about everything but the primary reason is the two Nate's re-entering the starting line-up. Hope's been a better team because they've made it easier for themselves to score while still maintaining and maybe improving the level of defense.
Saturday Hope heads to Angola. Trine is still playing for a lot including the final home game for a couple of good Sr's in Ian Jackson and Scott Rogers. The game last time with Trine was about 25 minutes of even play and 15 minutes of Hope runs. I suspect this will be a pretty difficult game. What Hope is playing for is still the tiny shreds of hope they can win a share of the MIAA or gain an at-large NCAA bid. Both pretty big longshots, but at least its there.
Up Next: Me vs whatever illness decided between yesterday morning and this morning to take over my body and throw a party.
Saturday February 16, Hope at Trine
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