HOLLAND, Mich. – Kyle Steigenga was named the tournament MVP for the third consecutive year as he led the Golden Eagles to a 95-78 win at Hope College which helped CU claim the GR Sports Hall of Fame tourney title. The win lifts Cornerstone to 8-1 on the year as it will resume WHAC play on Wednesday when it hosts Aquinas College at 7:30 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The opening points of the game saw Kyle Steigenga throw down a monstrous two-handed dunk and the scoring was underway for the Golden Eagles. Unfortunately, the Flying Dutchmen scored 10 of the next 14 points to build an early 10-6 lead and it would be a sign of things to come as neither team could put distance between themselves and their opponent. Trailing 29-27 with 5:53 to play, Cornerstone got five straight points from a Steigenga triple and two Cory Cox FT's to lead 32-29 and they never trailed again.

The half closed with the Golden Eagles scoring the final six points including a last second layup from Steigenga and CU led by eight (45-37).
CU then came out in the second half and increased the margin to double-digits after a Michael Bradshaw 3-pointer with 14:49 to play. That lead grew to 14 after Michael McLaughlin scored five consecutive points and it slowly grew after that with the largest lead coming with 3:46 to play with Cornerstone up 86-67.

Kyle Steigenga was named the Tournament MVP for the third straight year and is now the first ever 3-time winner in the 21 years of the GR Sports Hall of Fame Classic. Cory Cox joined Steigenga on the All-Tourney Team.
 
Say What?
"Hope is a really good team and our guys hung in there and I thought the key was how we closed out the first half…that was huge. When you got a guy like Kyle, you go to him and the guy missed one shot the whole tourney" – Head Coach Kim Elders
 
By the Numbers
32 – Career high points for junior Kyle Steigenga
10/10 – Steigenga tied the tourney record for FG% (old was Al Gortmaker – 8/8 – 1998)
13 – Points for Michael Bradshaw – a new career high
67.3% - Total Field Goal % for the Golden Eagles (33/49)
15/6/6/4 – Points, rebounds, assists and steals for Michael McLaughlin
 
Up Next
Cornerstone will get back to WHAC play on Wednesday when it hosts Aquinas College at 7:30 p.m.
 
Men's Basketball Contact: Aaron Sagraves
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