ANGOLA, Ind. – Trine fought back from a 23 point deficit but was defeated by No. 21 Alma 96-91 in an action-packed overtime game Wednesday night in Hershey Hall.
The Thunder overcame a double-digit deficit in the final 6:37 force the overtime period. The Trine offense was led by Tarvis Malone (Toledo, Ohio / St. John's Jesuit) and Jared Holmquist (Reed City, Mich. / Reed City). Malone paced the Thunder with 28 points, breaking his previous career high of 15 points. Holmquist added his eighth double-double of the season, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Alma was led by Trevor Gernaat with 19 points. Trine drops to 12-4 overall and to 2-3 in MIAA conference play. Alma advances to 12-4 overall and to 5-0 in the MIAA.
Will Dixon (Indianapolis, Ind. / Zionsville) finished the game with 18 points, all of which came after halftime. Kyle Dodson (Centerville, Ohio / Centerville) added 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, with all five makes coming from three-point distance.
Alma's DJ Beckman finished the game with 17 points and shooting 5-of-7 from the three. The Scott Nikodemski finished with 17 points on 50 percent shooting. Nikodemski entered the game leading the nation in field goal percentage of 72.2 percent. Jason Beckman finished with 14 points for the Scots.
Alma had a 20-2 start over Trine in the first 7:10 minutes of play, and kept the double digit lead going into half. Dominating the paint contributed to the 20-2 run with having 10 points in the paint compared to Trine's two. At half Alma was shooting 51.9 percent (14-of-27) and holding Trine to 40.9 percent (9-of-22). Malone helped the Thunder stay in the game with 11 points, nine of them coming from threes.
Trine shot 70.4 percent (19-of-27) in the second half, scoring 56 points, the most the Thunder has scored in a half this season. The comeback was led by Dixon with 18 points in the second half followed by Holmquist with 13 and Dodson with 11.
A barrage of threes contributed to the comeback as Trine hit 7-of-11 from distance in the second half. A jumper by Dixon tied the game at 81 apiece for the first time in the game with six seconds left to force overtime.
After each team scored to open overtime, Alma scored the next seven points to pull away. Four straight points by Nikodemski pushed the score to 90-83 with 26 seconds left. The Scots hit their last six free throws to seal the win.
Alma shot 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from the three. The Thunder defense was holding opponents to 29 percent from the three coming into the game. Trine shot 56 percent (14-of-25) from the three to keep pace with Alma.
Trine returns to action Saturday, Jan. 23 when the Thunder host Olivet for an MIAA conference game. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Article courtesy Cody Konieczki, Trine University, Communications '17