HOLLAND, MICH. -- The Trine University men's basketball team fell to Hope (Mich.) College, 86-67, in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game at DeVos Fieldhouse in Holland, Mich.
Trine (11-7, 5-2 MIAA) trailed by 10 points at the half, but would jump out to a six point lead early in the game and would have a two-point edge with under 10 minutes to go, 22-20, following one-of-two free-throws by senior Marcus Winters (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic). Hope (11-7, 4-3 MIAA) then went on a 20-8 scoring run to end the half which led to the 10-point difference at the break, 40-30.
The Flying Dutchmen opened up their lead to 13 points in the opening minutes of the second half, 45-32. A jumper by senior Maurice Hunter (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) began an 8-2 run for the Thunder that cut the deficit to single digits, 47-40, with just over 16 minutes to go in regulation.
Hope later extended its lead back to 13 points before layups by freshman Brent Cox (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) and Hunter pulled the Thunder to within nine points, 55-46, at the 12:38 mark. An ensuing three-pointer by the Dutchmen extended the margin to double digits again and was the beginning 17-4 run that allowed the home team to blow the game open with a 22-point advantage, 72-50, with 7:56 to play.
The Dutchmen continued to pull away and went on to lead by as many as 26 points en route to claiming the 86-67 final victory.
Trine was led in scoring by Hunter with 14 points on seven-of-nine shooting (77.8 percent). Senior Langston Johnson (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) also scored in double figures with 13 points to round out the high scorers and had a team-high five assists.
Cox led the team in rebounding with eight boards to go along with nine points to finish just shy of posting a double-double.
Trine will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich. for a MIAA contest against Kalamazoo (Mich.) College on Saturday, Feb. 1. The game is set to start at 3 p.m.