ANGOLA, IND.-- After trailing by as much as nine, Calvin rallied back to defeat Trine's men's basketball team 69-65 in MIAA-action Saturday afternoon in Hershey Hall.
After the Knights trailed the entire second half, Jordan Brink hit a three to tie the score at 62 with 1:25 on the clock. After a Will Dixon (Indianapolis, Ind./Zionsville) jumper restored the trine lead, Tyler Kruis hit an off-balance three with the shot clock winding down to give the Knights the 65-64 lead with 34 seconds remaining. Calvin got a pair of stops at the other end and hit their final four free-throw attempts to close out the win. Kruis led the Knights with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Jared Holmquist (Reed City, Mich./Reed City) scored 19 points and added eight rebounds to pace the Thunder. Calvin clinched a home-game in the first round of the MIAA Tournament with the victory and improved to 18-5 overall, 10-2 in the MIAA. Trine drops into a tie for third with Albion at 7-5 in the conference. The Thunder are 14-9 overall.
Dixon added 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting and dished out three assists for Trine. Tyler Good (Swanton, Ohio/Evergreen) stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. Nick Tatu (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) knocked down four treys for 12 points. Trine shot 45 percent from the field (25-of-56).
Brink notched 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting for the Knights. Jordan Daley added 10 points, while Mickey DeVries scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds. Calvin shot 50 percent from the field (25-of-50) and hit 88 percent from the line (15-of-17). The Knights held a 28-24 edge in the paint.
Calvin led by as much as nine in the first half when they jumped out to a 13-4 lead with 14:38 to play. The Knights hit six of their first eight attempts from the field to pace the hot start. Trine closed the half on a 13-2 run over the final 5:47 to play. A Good jumper in the closing seconds gave the Thunder a 35-32 halftime lead.
An 11-5 start the second half gave Trine it's largest lead at 46-37 with 15:15 remaining. The Thunder would lead the entire second half until Brink's three with 1:25 left sent the game to the deciding stretch.
Trine will host Albion as part of a doubleheader Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 8:00 p.m. in Hershey Hall. The Thunder and Britons enter the game tied for third-place in the MIAA. The winner of Wednesday's game will have the inside-edge for the no. 3 seed in the upcoming MIAA Tournament.