By Mitch Blankespoor
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team dropped its final home game on the season, falling to Hope 110-78 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play Wednesday, Feb. 19.
In the early stages of the game, Hope, who came into game with a 17-6 record and 11-1 in MIAA play, used 6'10" center Nate VanArendonk to pound the ball inside. The Grand Haven native found Grant Neil for three open layups in the opening minutes.
Kalamazoo trailed by seven (21-14) with 12:27 to play in the first half, but began chipping away at the Hope lead. Senior Mark Ghafari and junior forward Carter Goetz each nailed a pair of free throws. Senior Grant Carey hit a three-pointer to get Kalamazoo within three points (30-27).
Over the next five minutes, Hope went on a 22-9 run capped off by a layup from VanArendonk to take a 51-36 lead that all but put the game away. Kalamazoo went into halftime trailing 59-42.
The Hornets could get no closer in the second half.
Freshman guard Adam Dykema led Kalamazoo with 20 points on 8-14 shooting from the field. Ghafari finished with 18 points and moved into fifth all-time in scoring at Kalamazoo College.
Hope used a balanced scoring effort with six players scoring in double figures.
As a team, Kalamazoo shot 41.5 percent (27-65) from the field while Hope shot 59.7 percent (43-72). Hope also held a rebounding advantage 47-28.
Kalamazoo did win the free throw battle, connecting on 20-25 free throws while Hope converted 18-27 shots from the charity stripe.
With the loss, Kalamazoo drops to 10-14 on the season and 5-8 in conference play. Kalamazoo will play its final game of the season Saturday, Feb. 22, at Alma. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 3:00 p.m.