HOLLAND – As Orion Yant waited to check in midway through the second half, Hope College basketball coach Greg Mitchell told him his job was to play well without fouling.
“We need you,” Mitchell said.
Yant responded immediately, playing even more aggressively – but without fouling.
Yant reached up to block a Kalamazoo shot on his first possession back on the floor. On the next possession, he trailed the play and launched himself over everyone to block a shot up against the backboard – again without fouling.
But the next play erupted the crowd at DeVos Fieldhouse as Yant followed a missed shot, grabbed the rebound and slammed it through the rim. It sparked a 75-62 win over the Hornets on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
“It was one of those crazy plays that you don’t even realize what happened until afterward,” Yant said. “I was able to grab it and next thing you know, it was going through the hoop.”
Hope (13-7) remained tied atop the MIAA with Olivet at 8-1, one game ahead of Calvin and Trine.
The Flying Dutchmen were without leading scorer Parker Hovey, still recovering from an ankle injury.
That made Yant’s play all the more pivotal.
“Did we ever need him. He just keeps rising to the occasion. He was a bit of a baby deer last year and early this year, but now he is a big freakin’ buck. We needed everything he had – and he is learning to play without fouling,” Hope coach Greg Mitchell said. “He is born aggressive and we can’t hamstring that. We have to embrace it. It is why he is turning into such great player. He is fearless. He is tough. He is confident – and he is good. Without Parker, we needed someone to step up, and he has.”
Yant made a few clutch baskets down the stretch, scoring a career-high 24 points, one game after he posted a career-high 17 against Adrian.
He put the finishing touch on the win with a three-point play in the final minute. Yant finished with four blocks, a steal and six rebounds. He was 11-for-13 shooting.
“It is my teammates. They were able play great defense and force tough shots, and I was able to track the ball down,” Yant said. “They funneled them right to me. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I have great passers (on offense) and they get me the ball in the right places.”
That means driving to the basket and finessing a finger roll off the backboard with some spin.
“It is a patience thing. Ever since I started playing basketball I have been told I play too fast, so being able to slow down in the moments is huge,” Yant said. “This team just keeps pushing me to be better.”
In between Yant’s post dominance, Hope hit enough 3-pointers to balance things out with Brendan Cargill (13 points) hitting three 3s, Avery Sanchez (12 points) hitting two and Marcus Wourman eight points) hitting a pair.
Hope will play four of its next five games on the road as it battles for a league title.
“This is what you live for, the second half of the conference season. We feel like we have championship DNA, but none of that matters if we don’t prove it because anything can happen in these matchups,” Mitchell said. “That is how we have to approach it.”
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Orion Yant explodes for career high, block party and pivotal dunk in Hope win
Reporting by Dan D’Addona, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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