BEREA, OHIO -- The Trine University men's basketball team fell to Baldwin Wallace (Ohio) University, 73-69, in a non-conference game at Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea, Ohio.
Junior Jake Daniels (Grand Blanc, Mich./Holly) put Trine (4-5) on the board first with a three-pointer, but an ensuing 15-2 scoring run by Baldwin Wallace (5-3) put the Yellow Jackets out in front by 10 points, 15-5, at the 12:59 mark. The Thunder then mounted a rally of their own with an ensuing 7-0 run that began with a triple by freshman Brent Cox (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) and put the Thunder to within three points, 15-12, with 11:41 to go in the first half.
Trine later got to within a point and then took the lead with 4:43 to go when senior Langston Johnson (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) connected on a jumper that made it a 23-22 game. BW came back with a 12-2 run to regain the lead and go up by nine points en route to having an eight-point margin at the intermission, 36-28.
Just like the first half, the second half began with a three-pointer, but this time, it came off the fingertips of one of the BW players as the Yellow Jackets started out the period with an 11-point advantage. Trine battled back to make it a five-point contest at the 14:27 mark following a layup by Langston Johnson by a score of 43-38. The Yellow Jackets regained control by answering with a 7-0 run to extend the lead back to double digits, 50-38.
The game of "runs" by both teams continued as Trine made it a one possession game on several occasions down the stretch that included several three-point deficits with the last one being a 72-69 margin with just 22 seconds to go after a triple by senior Jason Clune (Meadville, Pa./Meadville). But that would be as close as Trine got in the final seconds as one-of-two free-throws by BW sealed the victory for the Yellow Jackets who went on to win by the final of 73-69.
Trine had four players score in double figures, led by Daniels with 18 points on five-of-10 shooting (50.0 percent), including hitting four shots from three-point range. Langston Johnson was second in scoring with 14 points.
The duo of seniors Marcus Winters (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic) and Maurice Hunter (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) rounded out the high scorers with 12 points each. Hunter was also part of a four-player tie for the team-lead in rebounding with four. Winters, Cox and sophomore Bryce Williams (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) also grabbed four rebounds along with Hunter.
In addition, Winters led all players in assists with a game-high seven helpers.
Trine will next travel to Tiffin, Ohio on Saturday, Dec. 21 to take on Heidelberg University in a non-conference game which is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.