Hope College Men's Basketball Game Notes for
First/Second Rounds, March 2-3, 2007 at Aurora, Ill.

Hope College Men's Basketball Game Notes for
First/Second Rounds, March 2-3, 2007 at Aurora, Ill.

° Hope is making its 18th appearance in the Division III championships. A year ago the Flying Dutchmen advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before bowing to eventual national runner-up Wittenberg.

° Hope coach Glenn Van Wieren is in his 30th season. He entered the 2006-07 season ranked the sixth winningest coach in Division III history. He is 589-198 entering the NCAA tournament.

° Hope won the regular season championship of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, but lost in the conference tournament championship game to rival Calvin, 78-76.

° Hope enters the playoffs with a 23-4 record and two-year mark of 52-7.

° Senior guard Stephen Cramer was voted the most valuable player in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association this season. He ranks among Hope's all-time leading scorers with 1,345 career points. This season he is averaging 15.4 points per game. When Cramer does good things on the court, Hope fans chant "USA, USA" for the high school he attended -- Unionville-Sebawaing Area in Michigan's thumb. At 6-2, Cramer jumps the opeing tipoff for the Flying Dutchmen.

° Stephen Cramer and teammate Derek Van Solkema, a junior guard, were named to the All-MIAA first team while junior forward Marcus Vanderheide received All-MIAA second team recognition.

° Hope has set a team single season record for three-pointers (243). For a good part of the season, Hope led Division III in three-point shooting accuracy which is currently at .426 (243/570). Hope scored 10-or-more three-pointers in 11 games this season. Five players scored 30-or-more three-pointers this season.

° Hope's 24.0 point margin of victory in league games this season was a conference record, 84.1 to 60.1.

° Hope has a history with all three teams in these early rounds -- 2-1 versus the University of Chicago, 5-0 versus Aurora, and 82-83 versus Calvin.

° Hope has advanced both its men's and women's teams to the NCAA tournament.  This marks the seventh time that both Hope teams have advanced in the same season. The others were 1990, 1995, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006. The women's team will playing at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. this weekend.

°  A year ago the Flying Dutchmen advanced to the tournament's Sweet Sixteen. Hope's best tournament finish was national runner-up in 1996 and 1998.  Hope's all-time record in the men's tournament is 19-19.

° The MIAA has now sent two teams to the NCAA men's championships in the same season nine times.  This is the third straight year to accomplish that fete. The two-team qualifying years are: 1987, Calvin/Hope; 1989, Calvin/Hope; 1992,
Calvin/Hope; 1995, Hope/Calvin; 1996, Hope/Kalamazoo; 1998, Albion/Hope; 2005, Albion/Calvin; 2006, Calvin/Hope; 2007, Calvin/Hope.