ELMHURST, Ill.-- Trine's men's basketball team came up on the short end of a back-and-forth battle Sunday afternoon, as the Thunder dropped a 72-68 decision to Elmhurst at R.A. Faganel Hall.
The tightly-contested game featured seven ties and 12 lead changes. Will Dixon (Indianapolis, Ind.) had the best game of his young career for Trine, scoring a career-high 32 points on 11-of-20 shooting. The performance was the first scoring effort of 30+ points by a Thunder player since Ian Jackson scored 44 at Olivet on Feb. 9, 2013. Kyle Wuest led three Elmhurst Blue Jays' in double-figures with 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Trine falls to 3-3 on the season. Elmhurst extends their winning-streak to five and improves to 5-2 overall.
Tyler Good (Swanton, Ohio) scored15 points and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds for Trine. Good also notched five assists. Nick Tatu (Clarkston, Mich.) added 12 points and continued his hot shooting from outside with a 3-of-7 effort from three range. Trine shot 40 percent from the field (22-of-53) and connected on 17-of-24 from the charity stripe (71 percent).
Elmhurst got strong performances off the bench from Kenny Payonck with 11 points, and Pat Coleman and Bryant Ackerman with eight points apiece. The Blue Jays' bench outscored their Trine counterparts 31-1. Nick Sanford added nine points and a game-high 16 boards, while Will Nixon added 10 points. Elmhurst outscored Trine 32-14 in the paint.
Neither team led by more than four in the first half. Dixon came out firing, hitting a blistering 7-of-11 from the field to pour in 17 first half points. A Tatu three gave Trine their largest lead of the game at 19-15 with 7:22 to play in the half. The Jays would rally to take the lead at 29-28 on a jumper by Coleman in the paint, but a pair of free throws by Dixon gave TU a 30-29 halftime advantage.
The Blue Jays opened the second half firing on all cylinders, using a 23-12 surge to open up a 52-42 lead on an Ackerman three with 11:24 to play. The Jays held Trine without a field goal for the first 4:48 of the half.
The Elmhurst lead would hover in the six-to-10-point range until a 7-0 run by Trine got the Thunder right back in the contest. An off-balance jumper from the top of the key and a pair of free throws by Dixon cut the Jays' lead to 62-59 with 5:42 to play. Tarvis Malone (Toledo, Ohio) split a pair of free throws, followed by Good drawing a foul on the drive and converting a pair of free tosses to tie the score at 62-62 with 3:31 to play.
Wuest hit a three, but Good responded with a baseline jumper to cut the Elmhurst lead to one. After Sanford split a pair of free throws, Dixon banked in a driving layup for Trine to tie the score back up at 66-apiece.
The Jays responded, with Nixon converting an old-fashioned three-point play to give Elmhurst the lead for good at 69-66 with 1:54 remaining. Ackerman went on the convert 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch and the Thunder couldn't muster enough offense to rally back.
Trine will return to action when they host North Park next Saturday, Dec. 14 in Hershey Hall. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.