ADA, OHIO-- Trine's men's basketball team closed the non-conference portion of their schedule with a tight 73-68 road win over Ohio Northern Saturday afternoon at ONU Sports Center.
The Thunder led by as much as 11 in the first half, but Ohio Northern made a big run to take a haltime lead. Neither team led by double-digits the rest of the way. A key 14-3 run by Trine midway through the second half gave the Thunder the lead for good. A career-high 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting from Tyler Good (Swanton, Ohio/Evergreen) paced the Thunder offensively. Good played the full 40 minutes of the contest and also pulled down eight rebounds. He was one of four Thunder in double-figures. Branden Rushton, the leading scorer in the Ohio Athletic Conference, led the Polar Bears with 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Trine will head into MIAA conference play with a 7-4 overall record. Ohio Northern falls to 6-5 on the season.
Jared Holmquist (Reed City, Mich./Reed City) turned in another strong effort down on the block for Trine with 17 points to go along with seven rebounds. Holmquist did the majority of his damage from the free throw line, knocking down 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Nick Tatu (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) and Will Dixon (Indianapolis, Ind./Zionsville) each added 13 points. The Thunder shot 48 percent from the field (22-of-46) and 86 percent from the free throw line (24-of-28). Trine also held a 30-16 advantage in the paint.
Jordan Martin was the lone other Polar Bear to reach double-figures, coming off the bench to score 12 points. Martin hit all three of his attempts from long range and finished 4-of-5 from the field. The Polar Bears were anything but frigid from three, hitting 8-of-15 of their attempts from long range (54 percent). Overall, ONU shot 45 percent (26-of-58) of their field goal attempts.
The first half remained tight until an 8-0 run by Trine opened up a 30-19 Thunder lead with 6:44 to play. Good scored five of those points on a layup and three, while Tatu added a three. The Polar Bears hit right back with a strong surge of their own to close the first half on a 19-6 run. A layup by Jared Hortsman in the closing minute made the halftime score 38-36 in favor of ONU.
Ohio Northern would hold onto that slim lead until the Thunder took back the advantage for good with a 14-3 run. Good started the run with a layup-and-one to cut the score to 48-47 with 15:59 to play. Martin answered with a three, but a jumper and another old-fashioned three by Good gave Trine a 52-51 lead with 14:29 on the clock. A jumper by Tatu, a layup by Dixon and a Todd Watkins (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Bernard) jumper closed out the run and gave Trine a 58-51 lead with 11:33 to play.
The Polar Bears would not cut the Trine lead to one possession until 1:10 remained, when a jumper by Rushton cut the score to 67-64. ONU had a chance to tie with 10 seconds remaining, but the Thunder forced a missed three and Tatu hit a pair of free throws for the final 73-68 margin.
Trine will play their MIAA-opener this Wednesday, Jan. 8 when they travel to Hope. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.