ANGOLA, IND. -- Sophomore Maurice Hunter (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) scored a game and season-high 27 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, while senior Myles Copeland (Perrysburg, Ohio/Toledo St. John's) added 26 points to lead the Trine University men's basketball team to an 100-97 win against Alma (Mich.) College in overtime at the MTI Center.
Hunter's 27 points came on 12-of-18 shooting (66.7 percent) and Copeland scored his 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting (61.1 percent). In addition, the Thunder had two other players score in double figures in sophomore Langston Johnson (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) who scored 19 points and junior Pete Smith (Bristol, Ind./Northridge) ended the game with 18 points. Both players connected on five triples in the game and Smith added a team-tying high six assists. Sophomore Jason Clune (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) equalled Smith's assist total (six) and also scored six points.
Junior Marcus Winters (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) also came up big for Trine in rebounding with 10 boards. He also finished with five assists.
Alma (6-12, 3-4 MIAA) led by a point, 95-94, with under a minute to go in the overtime period when Trine (9-9, 5-2 MIAA) scored five straight points thanks to a Smith three-pointer and then two free-throws by Smith to lead, 99-95. The Scots cut the deficit in half on their next offensive trip with a layup (99-97) before another freebie by Smith made it a three-point margin, 100-97, with seconds remaining. After back-to-back missed one-and-one attempts at the charity stripe by Alma, the Scots would find themselves with the ball with three-tenths of a second remaining, still trailing by three points. Alma connected on the last second attempt from long range that would have tied the game, but time had already expired before the shot was released, as Trine went on to the three-point victory.
The two teams battled to eight ties on the scoreboard and swapped leads a total of 22 times in the game which included 17 lead changes in the first half alone. Trine led by five points early in the contest, 7-2, before Alma went on a 12-2 scoring run to post a five-point lead of its own, 14-9, at the 14:37 mark. Momentum continued to swing back-and-forth between the two teams with the Thunder recording their largest lead of the game of six points, 26-20, with 10:49 to go in the first half following a layup by sophomore Kelham Brown (Huntertown, Ind./Carroll) that ended an 8-0 run.
Alma responded by outscoring Trine, 19-5, over the next 3:21 to post its largest lead of the half of eight points, 39-31, with just under seven-and-a-half minutes remaining. Trine then rallied with an ensuing 9-0 run to re-claim a one-point advantage, 40-39, as neither team led by more than a basket the remainder of the half which saw the Scots take a marginal, 51-49, lead into the locker rooms.
Trine used the first 3:26 of the second half to take a seven-point lead, 63-56, thanks to a jumper by Copeland. Alma battled back to later regain control and eventually went on to lead by as many as five points, 83-78, at the 5:43 mark. The Thunder rallied to tie the game at 86-86 with under two minutes to go and took the lead on a Hunter jumper that capped a streak of six straight points to make the score, 88-86, with a little over a minute left in regulation.
Following a late Trine turnover, Alma connected on a game-tying tip-in off of a missed three-point attempt with five seconds on the game clock. Smith took the final shot of the contest, but could not get a clean look as the shot hit rim, forcing the overtime period where Trine went on to prevail by the final of 100-97.
Both teams shot an even 50.0 percent from the field with Trine going 38-of-75 and Alma converting on 39-of-78 attempts. Both teams were also about even in three-point shooting with the Scots hoisting 35 of their overall shot attempts from deep and made 16 of them (45.7 percent). The Thunder went 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from behind the arc. Trine won the battle at the free-throw line and on the glass with the home team going 14-of-21 (66.7 percent) at the charity stripe and out-rebounded Alma, 43-37.
Alma had five players score in double figures with Kevin Gamble recording a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Rob Holmes led the Scots in scoring with 26 points.
Trine has now won its last three games and will look to keep the streak going this Saturday, Jan. 27 when it hosts Hope College in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game. The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. tip at the MTI Center.
