HOLLAND, Mich. - Calvin men's basketball fell short in the MIAA Tournament Championship, falling to Hope on the road with a final of 76-68 on Saturday evening.

The Flying Dutchmen grabbed an early lead over the Knights with a score of 10-5. Calvin (20-8) responded quickly with an impressive 13-0 run capped off by a pair of free throws by junior Eli Sensenig (Grayslake, IL / Westlake Christian Academy) to lead 18–10.  

The Knights were holding a steady lead over the Flying Dutchmen and after a 3-pointer by Marcus Bult (Wheaton, IL / Wheaton Academy), Calvin led 24-17 with 5:55 left in the half. Hope answered right back at Calvin with an 8-2 run to only trail 26-25 with 3:21 left. 

It was a close contest into halftime as Hope took a one-point lead over Calvin with a score of 32-31. Senior Thad Shymanski (Ada, MI / Grand Rapids Christian) and Luke Morrison (Bristol, IN / Northridge) both led Calvin in scoring with 5 points each at half. 

The Knights shot 12-34 (35.3%) from the field and 4-11 (36.4%) from three-point land. Hope outrebounded Calvin slightly with 22-21 on the glass and Calvin had 6 total assists at halftime. 

The Flying Dutchmen (22-6) came out firing in the second half as they rattled off a 12-2 run to take a 44-33 lead. Hope continued to maintain a steady double-digit lead through the most of the second half, using strong three-point shooting to keep the Knights at a distance.  

The Knights tried climbing back into the game and a 3-pointer by Morrison made it 68-56 with 4:48 left in the game. Calvin kept trying to claw its way back into the game and made it a six-point game after a three by Shymanski to make it 73-67 with 45 seconds left. 

However, Hope was able to make its free throws down the stretch and Calvin couldn't come up with the points on offense. 

Morrison led all Knights in scoring with 17 points followed by senior Alec Fruin (Beloit, WI / Turner) with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Shymanski also finished with 10 points for the Knights as well. 

COACHES COMMENTS: "They hit a couple big threes in the second half to get them going," said head coach Bill Sall. "We let the game get away and we battled back, but it's a good free throw shooting team so it made it difficult to climb all the way back in it. Overall, a good run by our guys, but certainly disappointing in the end tonight."