Leading 35-30 late in the first half, the nationally-ranked Flying Dutchmen went on a 12-4 run over the final 1:59 of the first half to build a 47-34 halftime lead. The Hope run was punctuated by a three-point basket by senior Matt Taylor just before the halftime buzzer.
Hope (14-3 overall, 4-1 MIAA) picked up where it left off with an 18-5 run in the opening four minutes of the second half to break the game wide open and cruise the rest of the way for the easy victory.
The victory allowed Hope to move into sole possession of first place in the MIAA standings as it improved to 4-1 in league play while Calvin (10-7 overall) dropped to 4-2 in the conference. In addition, Hope also closed the gap on Calvin in the all-time series as the Flying Dutchmen now trail just 78-75. Hope also retook the series scoring lead as it has now scored 10,278 points in the all-time history of the rivalry, eight points better than Calvin all-time (10, 270).
Sophomore forward Andy Phillips led Hope with a sensational all-around performance with 24 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Junior Daane Griffith was next for Hope with 13 points while junior Travis Spaman, sophomore Jeff Carlson and freshman Stephen Cramer had 11 points apiece.
Calvin was led in defeat by junior Dan Aultman with 12 points with senior Chris Prins chipping in with 11. Sophomore Brian Roelofs added nine points in a reserve role off the bench in the second half.
Hope shot a sizzling 61.3 percent from the floor and connected on 11 of 19 attempts (.579) from three-point range. Calvin shot 44.3 percent overall and 41.2 percent from downtown (7 of 17) but also committed 22 turnovers while Hope had just 13.