GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. -- Junior Pete Smith (Bristol, Ind./Northridge) scored a team-high 19 points, but it would not be enough as the Trine University men's basketball team lost, 89-69, to Calvin (Mich.) College in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Trine had a better overall shooting percentage for the game at 49.1 percent (28-of-57), but were outrebounded, 50-20, by the Knights.
Smith led all Thunder scorers with 19 points on 50.0 percent shooting (seven-of-14) and had three three-pointers. Sophomore duo Jason Clune (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) and Maurice Hunter (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) also scored in double figures with 13 points each. The leading rebounder for Trine was junior Marcus Winters (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) with five boards.
The two teams battled to a 9-9 tie early in the first half when Calvin (6-9, 2-2 MIAA) took over with an 8-0 scoring run to muster an eight-point advantage, 17-9, at the 14-minute mark. The Knights gradually saw their lead expand to 16 points, 32-16, with 7:20 left to play in the period when a three-pointer by Smith and a layup by Hunter cut the deficit to 11 points, 32-21, with just under six-and-a-half minutes to go.
But the half would end with Calvin outscoring Trine, 14-6, in the final 6:28 to boast a 19-point margin at the break, 46-27.
Trine narrowed the gap to 14 points, 52-38, with 16:26 remaining in regulation following another triple by Smith. But that was as close as the Thunder got the remainder of the game as Calvin pulled away and went on to lead by as many as 25 points on two occasions, including an 89-64 score with 2:29 left.
A three-point play by Trine's Jalen Paul (Fort Wayne, Ind./Churubusco) and a layup by sophomore Kelham Brown (Huntertown, Ind./Carroll) rounded out the scoring in the game as the Thunder fell by the final score of 89-69.
Calvin shot 44.0 percent (33-of-75) from the field and hoisted 29 attempts from long range and made 10 for 34.5 percent (10-of-29). The Knights also converted 13-of-14 free-throws (92.9 percent) and were led in scoring by Jason Walter with a game-high 23 points, followed by Derrick DeVries with 21 points.
Trine will look to get back to its winning ways when it hosts Albion (Mich.) College on Wednesday, Jan. 17 at the MTI Center. The MIAA matchup is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.