The victory sets the stage for a fourth game this season against rival Calvin who defeated UW-LaCrosse 79-71 in Friday's other game. Satuarday's Hope/Calvin game, the 161st in the storied series, is already a sellout.
The win was Hope's 27th in 29 games, tying a single season record for victories. The 1995-96 team was 27-3.
Coach Glenn Van Wieren's Dutchmen made their first eight shots in jumping off to an 18-5 lead in the first four minutes of the game. Hope led 52-31 at halftime with 10 players already in the scorebook with points behind a 60% team shooting.
In the end, 13 players had more than 10 minutes of NCAA tournament experience led by Marcus Vanderheide who scored 17 points over 18 minutes. Andy Phillips finished with 13 points while Stephen Cramer added 12. Cramer was also credited with seven assists while freshman Jesse Reimink pulled down seven rebounds and Tim Partridge had four steals.