The two-day tournament started in nearly identical fashion to Goshen’s own McDonald’s Maple City Hoopfest (click here for related article), as the Leafs again opened tournament action against Madonna. And, similar to the squad’s 77-62 Hoopfest win over the Crusaders in early November, Friday’s contest was close only at the outset, as Goshen (5-8, 1-2) came back from an initial 2-5 deficit to cruise to the 19-point win.

“I thought that we were a little sluggish at the beginning of the Madonna game, but we kept working at it and finished strong the last 10 minutes of the game,” said Stan Daugherty, Goshen head coach. “I know that final exams were trying for many of our players so it was good to get the win after three days of finals.”

With the institution’s final exam schedule making travel to Hope unusual — Goshen's divided team took both a morning bus and an afternoon bus to Hope’s DeVos Fieldhouse  — Daugherty’s team was able to knock the cobwebs out early in Friday’s contest. After allowing Madonna to connect on its first two shots from the field and falling behind by three points, Goshen rattled off the game’s next eight points and never looked back. With just under 11 minutes to play in the first half Goshen led 17-10, and with 8:27 remaining it was a 28-15 advantage.

Following a 39-30 Leafs’ lead at the intermission, Madonna cut the Goshen advantage to eight points on five different occasions in the second period. The Crusaders’ last surge would be answered vehemently by Goshen, however, as the Leafs ran off an 11 to nothing run in a two-minute span to effectively close the door. A 60-52 Goshen lead with 9:48 to play was vaulted into a 71-52 advantage with 7:24 remaining, as Madonna would get no closer than 16 points the remainder of the way.

Goshen was benefited from a balanced attack in the Friday night contest, as freshman Errick McCollum led the way with 18 points on an eight for 11 shooting performance. Senior Willie Frazier scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while classmate David Haire scored 10. Junior Brice Hartman added nine points and six boards, while senior Matt Crawford scored eight. Freshman Nate West tallied seven points, three rebounds and a career-high four blocks.

“We had good balance Friday and our depth off of the bench played a big part in the win,” Daugherty said. “Nate West, (freshman) Lance Carroll, (sophomore) Sam Boldman and (freshman) Hugh Weiskittel all gave us good energy when they came in the game. It was a good team win in that everyone contributed. When someone was not as mentally sharp as normal, another player seemed to pick us up.”

Follwing Hope’s 88-63 win over Grace Bible College in Friday’s second contest, Saturday’s showdown was set: Goshen would finally get a chance to face the Flying Dutchmen in the sparkling DeVos Fieldhouse, a venue in which Hope had never lost a game.

Looking to be the first, Goshen came up just short.

With 2,825 fans packing the arena, Daugherty’s team came out determined. Goshen and Hope gave the large crowd a neck and neck battle at the outset, with Goshen grabbing a 14-13 advantage with 12:23 to play in the first half. With 5:08 remaining it was the Flying Dutchmen that held on to a slim lead — a 32-26 advantage — but the final moments of the half would effectively doom the Leafs. Hope ran off a 10 to three run to close the period, capturing its largest lead of the game at the half, 42-29.

“The championship game was a great atmosphere for our team,” Daugherty said. “We played well early and we were not intimidated by the crowd or the environment. I thought we battled them pretty well on the boards throughout the game despite giving up some size inside. Our guys stuck to a good game plan of penetrating their defense and then passing to the open man. We had some good looks from three all day long. Even when we got down we kept trying to execute our game plan. I thought the key point of the game was the end of the first half. We were only down six points with about six minutes to play, but we didn't finish well and we dug a bigger hole than we wanted.”

Trailing by 13, Goshen was only able to close the gap to nine points — three different times — in the second period. With Haire absolutely feeling it from deep (he finished with a game-high 20 points on a six of 10 effort from three-point land), the Leafs were unable to find the defensive stop when needed. Hope scored on each of its ensuing possessions following the lead being trimmed to nine points, eventually settling for the 13-point win.

Haire’s six three-point baskets was a single-game career high. Hartman added 19 points on an eight for 17 shooting performance. McCollum scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Crawford scored nine, secured five rebounds and dished out five assists. Frazier ended with eight points and six rebounds.

Goshen was able to keep pace with Hope in the second half (both teams scored 43 points) despite allowing the Flying Dutchmen to shoot 64.5 percent from the floor in the period (20 of 31). Goshen made the most of limited free throw attempts, as the country’s second-best free throw shooting team finished five for five from the line. Hope made 15 trips to its charity area, making 10 (66.7 percent).

“We struggled with their size at times and didn't defend screens as well as we need to defeat good teams,” Daugherty said. “We played well at times in the second half, but never seemed to hit a big shot when it was a nine or ten point deficit. Hope is obviously a good team and that is a hard place to win, but overall I think the experience will help us as we head into the meat of our conference schedule after Christmas. We are looking forward to the break so that we can get back to some basic fundamentals in practice and focus on our continued improvement as individuals and as a team.”

Madonna defeated Grace Bible by a 73-68 score in the tournament's consolation game. Haire was named to the all-tournament team as a result of  his weekend efforts. Hope’s Scott Richardson was named the Most Valuable Player. Hope’s Tyler Wolfe, Grace Bible’s Allen Durham and Madonna’s Mike Rashad rounded off the award-winning players.

Goshen did not get through the weekend without its share of injury, as freshman guard Zach Wright suffered a partially torn ligament in his left thumb late against Madonna. He is expected to miss three to six weeks while the ligament heals. Sophomore Bryce Bow also missed his fourth and fifth consecutive games with a hip flexor injury. His status is listed as day-to-day by Goshen College athletic training personnel.

Goshen will return to the practice floor before heading to Florida for a pair of games next weekend. The Leafs will face off against Webber International University on Saturday and Warner Southern College on Sunday. Both contests are slated for 3 p.m. tip-offs. Both games will be played at the respective institution’s home floors.