ALBION, MICH. -- Six members of the Trine University men's basketball team scored in double figures in a 79-71 comeback win against Albion (Mich.) College in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association action in Albion, Mich.
Junior Langston Johnson (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) led the Thunder in scoring with 16 points and also had a game-high seven assists. Johnson shot 31.3 percent (five-of-16) for the game and was a perfect five-of-five from the free-throw line. Senior Myles Copeland (Perrysburg, Ohio/Toledo St. John's) was second in scoring with 12 points and had six rebounds to go along with four helpers.
A trio of players finished with 11 points on the night in junior Maurice Hunter (Monroe, Mich./Monroe), senior Pete Smith (Bristol, Ind./Northridge) and freshman Nick Bowman (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern). Hunter also grabbed a team-tying high nine rebounds.
Rounding out the high scorers was senior Ellis Cummings (Ottawa Hills, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) who had 10 points.
In addition, junior Marcus Winters (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) tied Hunter for the team lead in rebounds with nine and also had six assists and a game-high four steals.
Trine (11-5, 4-1 MIAA) trailed by eight points after the first half which began with Albion (11-5, 4-1 MIAA) scoring the first five points en route to having a six-point advantage at the 16:07 mark by a score of 10-4. A three-pointer by Smith, which was followed by a layup by senior Jared Dishop (Napoleon, Ohio/Liberty Center), cut the deficit to a point, 10-9, before the Britons rattled off back-to-back buckets to go up by seven points, 16-9, with just under 12 minutes to go in the half.
Albion gradually began to pull away and recorded its first double-digit lead at the 9:53 mark on its way to leading by as many as 17 points in the period with 6:25 to go and a score of 34-17. Trine gained a bit of momentum before the end of the half with an ensuing 10-2 scoring run that began with a one-of-two free-throws by Copeland and was capped by a triple by Johnson that cut the deficit to nine points, 36-27, with three minutes remaining.
Following one-of-two freebies by the Britons, Hunter scored the final points of the half with 2:26 to play on a jumper to make it a 37-29 game at the break.
The second half saw Trine outscore Albion, 50-34, and chip away at the deficit in the early minutes of the period as the Thunder worked their way back to within four points, 52-48, with 12:12 left in regulation. Albion later extended the margin out to nine points, 61-52, with under 10 minutes to go, but a 7-0 run by Trine made it a one-possession game, 61-59, at the 7:52 mark after a bucket by Hunter.
About a minute-and-a-half later, Trine evened the score at 63-63 on a layup by Winters and took its first lead of the game with 3:46 to play on a jumper by Johnson that made the score, 67-65. The Thunder led the rest of the way and put the game away at the foul line, scoring the final five points of the contest from the charity stripe to secure the 79-71 win.
Trine is scheduled to take on Kalamazoo (Mich.) College on Saturday, Jan. 19 in a MIAA game at the MTI Center. The game will be part of a basketball doubleheader with the Thunder women's team. The women will host Alma (Mich.) College with tip-off scheduled at 1 p.m., followed by the men against the Hornets at 3 p.m.