CHICAGO, Ill.-- Trine controlled the action from start to finish in a dominating 87-33 victory over Illinois Tech Saturday afternoon at the Keating Sports Center.
The Thunder never trailed on the way to the 54-point victory, which fell just two points shy of the largest winning-margin in a game in school-history. Nearly every Trine player got into the act offensively, with 13 of 15 Thunder scoring points. Will Dixon (Indianapolis, Ind.) lead the way, tying a season-high with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Jake Bagley (Van Wert, Ohio) came off the bench to tie a career-high with 11 points and added five rebounds. A swarming defensive effort by Trine forced Illinois Tech into 33 turnovers. Trine improves to 3-2 overall and have won two in a row. Illinois Tech falls to 0-8 on the season.
The Thunder scored 42 points off turnovers and came away with 19 steals in the contest. The Trine bench outscored their IIT counterparts 57-4. Gage Beaber (Gibsonburg, Ohio) and Jordan Eddy (Coldwater, Mich.) each scored a career-high nine points off the bench for TU. The Thunder shot 49 percent from the floor (36-of-73) on the afternoon.
Anders Bybjerg scored 12 points and added five rebounds to pace Illinois Tech. Anthony Loss added eight points, six rebounds and four assists. The Hawks had nearly as many turnovers (33) as field goals attempted (34).
A jumper by Tyler Good and a three by Dixon got Trine out to a 5-0 lead and the Thunder would never look back. After a three by Bybjerg, the Thunder rattled off 14 straight points to open up a 19-3 lead with 13:52 to play in the first half. Bagley hit a three and added an old-fashioned three-point play for six points during the run. Dixon added four points, while Nick Tatu (Clarkston, Mich.) and Tyler Good (Swanton, Ohio) each added buckets.
The Thunder pushed their halftime lead to 33 to go into the break with a 46-13 advantage. Trine hit 19-of-41 shots from the field (46 percent), including 47 percent from long distance (7-of-15). TU had more field goals made (19) than field goal attempts allowed (17) in the first half, as a superb defensive effort helped Trine force 14 turnovers.
Trine continued their efficient offensive performance and lock-down defense in the second half. The Thunder shot 53 percent (17-of-32) from the field after the break while forcing 19 turnovers.
A jumper by Jordan Brady (Mishawaka, Ind.) pushed the score to 60-20 with 12:41 to play. Beaber gave the Thunder their first 50-point lead of the night at 72-22 with 9:41 remaining in the game. Trine would go on to lead by as many as 56 points.
Trine concludes their weekend road trip tomorrow at Elmhurst. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EST (3:00 p.m. local CST). The Thunder will look to extend their winning-streak to three in the contest.