Hope\'s win, combined with an 81-65 Calvin victory over Aquinas in Friday\'s other game, sets the stage for the 162nd renewal of small college basketball\'s greatest rivalry. Hope will meet Calvin in Saturday\'s championship game. Tipoff will be 8 p.m. at the Calvin College Fieldhouse. This will be the first meeting between the teams in the Hall of Fame Classic.
Saturday\'s game will mark the first time since the 1980-81 season that Calvin and Hope will meet in a non-conference game preceeding the MIAA regular season. The two teams met in December of 1980 at a tournament hosted by Central College in Pella, Iowa. Calvin won the game 85-66. Calvin holds an all-time series lead of 81-80 but the Flying Dutchmen are coming off a 2005-06 campaign where they defeated the Knights in three out of four meetings.
Coach Glenn Van Wieren\'s Dutchmen trailed by nine points eight minutes into the second half. Relying on timely outside shooting and taking command of the boards, the Dutchmen fought back to tie the score 63-63 with 8:18 left to play. The teams were tied again at 65 before Hope went on a seven point run to take a lead they would not relinquish. Cornerstone came within a point 74-73 with exactly one minute to play, but Hope iced the game with six straight free throws.
Junior Derek Van Solkema led the Dutchmen in scoring with 17 points while Marcus Vanderheide and Stephen Cramer followed with 15 and 14 respectively. Hope made 12 three-pointers with seven different players connecting from outside.
Keys to the game included a 38-33 rebounding advantage against the taller Golden Eagles and only five turnovers in the second half after committing 10 before halftime. Hope outscored Cornerstone 24-8 off turnovers.