Hope Pulls Away from Cougars for 101-67 Win in Title Game


	Cougar Basketball Game Recap Hope Pulls Away from Cougars for 101-67 Win in Title Game written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director Game Boxscore HOLLAND, Mich. (12-10-2011) - The Mount Vernon Nazarene University men's basketball team fell 101-67 at NCAA Division III No. 23 Hope (Mich.) College in the championship game of the Hope Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the DeVos Fieldhouse. The first seven minutes of the game went back and forth with five ties and two lead changes with the score knotted at 13-13. Then, the host Flying Dutchmen (8-1) used a 30-17 run to close the half as Hope built a 43-30 halftime advantage. Senior forward Danil Zakhlebnyy *(left)* led the Cougars (5-7) with 13 points and six rebounds in the first half, while junior guard Ben Severns and senior guard Robbie Taylor added six points apiece. MVNU shot 40.9 percent from the field (9-for-22), 36.4 percent from 3-point range (4-for-11), and 80 percent from the free throw line (8-for-10). Hope was led by David Krombeen with 13 first-half points, while Peter Bunn added 12 points. The Flying Dutchmen shot 51.5 percent from the field (17-for-33), 40 percent from 3-point range (4-for-10), and 71.4 percent from the free throw line (5-for-7). The second half was all Hope as the Flying Dutchman used a 35-11 run over the first 11 minutes to build a comfortable 78-41 lead. From there, it would grow to as much as 93-52 with 4:28 to go before the Cougars used a 13-2 run to close the gap to 95-65 with 1:16 remaining. It was too little too late, though, as Hope hit two 3-pointers in the final minute to make the final score 101-67. Zakhlebnyy, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, led MVNU with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Taylor added 14 points. Severns also finished with nine points. The Cougars shot 37.5 percent from the field for the game (18-for-48), 40 percent from 3-point range (8-for-20), and 76.7 percent from the free throw line (23-for-30). Krombeen, the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, led the Flying Dutchmen with 21 points, while Bunn finished with 16 points. Billy Seiler and Nate Snuggerud also had 11 and 10 points respectively with Snuggerud grabbing 10 rebounds. Hope shot 56.3 percent from the field (40-for-71) including 60.5 percent in the second half, 37.5 percent from 3-point range (9-for-24), and 70.6 percent from the charity stripe (12-for-17). The Flying Dutchmen posted a 48-10 advantage in points in the paint and a 20-2 margin in fast break points. "(Hope) has a very nice team," said MVNU coach Matt Moore. "They play together well and limited us to one shot in most of our possessions. We need to continue to do the things that will put us in a position to be ready once conference opens back up. There are always learning opportunities in difficult times." The Cougars will return to action next Friday when the team will travel to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical (Fla.) University for a 7 p.m. non-conference game.

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