ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996               TAG: 9603180044
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: B-1  EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.

HOLSTEGE LEADER OF THE PACK

The Hope College guard is wolf in sheep's clothing as Flying Dutchmen knock off Franklin & Marshall 76-57.

Who knows if Rudyard Kipling knew anything about basketball? Few people probably care whether the famous writer did or not. But Hope (Mich.) College coach Glenn Van Wieren believes he did.

The 19-year coach of the Holland, Mich., school often cites Kipling's prose, ``The strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack.''

It was that belief, according to the Flying Dutchmen, that landed them in the Division III men's basketball national championship game after chewing up Franklin & Marshall (Pa.) College 76-57 Friday night at the Salem Civic Center.

Hope is making its first-ever appearance in the title game, and will play Rowan (N.J.).

``It was the Kipling thing,'' Van Wieren explained. ``I think it was the team that took over, not any one individual.''

The Diplomats, however, could easily have pointed to Hope guard Joel Holstege as the wolf that hastened their retreat. The Flying Dutchmen were ahead 57-48 with 7:36 to play when their super center, Duane Bosma, committed his fourth foul.

The surprising thing was, thanks to Holstege and some ingenious teammates, Kevin Brintnell and Kris Merritt, the Flying Dutchmen moved further ahead, embarking on an 18-9 run to end the game. Holstege had a hand in virtually every point, compiling four assists, five points and a steal.

Much like his coach, Holstege said later, ``Any one of us could have done it.''

Both teams looked jittery in the first half, but lucky for Hope, the shakiness was limited only to their shooting hands. They did everything else well, particularly in the stealing and offensive rebounding departments.

Franklin & Marshall couldn't hang on to the ball, mainly because Hope wouldn't let them. The Flying Dutchmen picked the Diplomats eight times.

``We were making stupid passes,'' said F&M guard Jeremiah Henry.

The problem for Hope was that very few, if any, of those steals led to points. The Flying Dutchmen missed at least nine layups alone and shot just 25 percent.

But at least they had a chance to shoot. Hope took 40 shots compared to 18 for the Diplomats.

The Diplomats were giving up too much of everything all game. Without Henry's 23-point, four-steal performance, it would have been much worse. "He kept us in it," F&M coach Glenn Robinson said. "As long as we were in it, he was the one doing it."

NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.

LENGTH: Medium:   61 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:   ERIC BRADY/Staff. Hope's Kevin Brintnell (left) 
          dribbles the ball down court while being defended by Franklin & 
          Marshall's Chris Kelliher on Friday at the Salem Civic Center. 
          (photo ran in Metro only)