ASHLAND, VA. -- The Trine University men's basketball team took on Randolph Macon (Va.) College in a 1 vs. 2 end of the season matchup, but fell to the Yellow Jackets by a final of 69-55 at Crenshaw Gym in Ashland, Va.
Junior Nick Bowman (Angola, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) led Trine in scoring with 15 points on six-of-18 shooting (33.3 percent) and also had a game-tying high four steals. Junior Bryce Williams (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) also scored in double figures with 12 points to round out the Thunder high scorers.
Sophomore Connor Jones (Danville, Ind./Danville) led the team in rebounding with a game-tying high six boards and junior Aiden Warzecha (Milford, Mich./Milford) tallied a team-high five assists.
Randolph Macon (11-0) started the scoring with a layup when Trine (17-1) recorded back-to-back layups by Bowman and Jones that put the Thunder ahead early, 4-2. The Yellow Jackets then got their offense going with an ensuing 12-0 scoring run to retake the lead by a margin of 14-4 at the 13:41 mark of the first half.
Trine cut the margin back to single digits with a pair of free-throws by sophomore Brent Cox (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) and a layup by Warzecha, but Randolph Macon responded with another run, this time by a 14-4 margin to extend its lead to 16 points, 28-12, with just under six-and-a-half minutes remaining before the break.
The Thunder worked their way back to within nine points late in the half following consecutive jumpers by Bowman that made it a nine-point game, 32-23, but the home team ended the half by outscoring Trine, 4-1, to regain a double-digit advantage, 36-24, at the intermission.
Coming out of the locker rooms, Randolph Macon tallied the first 10 points of the second half to take a 22-point lead, 46-24, its largest of the game, with 17:14 left to play. An ensuing triple by Williams started a run of 11-2 for Trine that put the Thunder within 13 points, 48-35, at the 11:59 mark.
Randolph Macon eventually increased its lead to 16 points past the midway point of the period when Trine began to chip away at the deficit and got to within nine points following a triple by Warzecha that made the score, 61-52, with 4:26 to go. That was as close as Trine got, however, as two straight baskets by the Yellow Jackets returned the Randolph Macon lead back to double figures, 65-52, and later led by 15 points (69-54) before one-of-two free-throws by Trine freshman Emmanuel Megnanglo (Cotonou, Benin/Amelia Academy) capped the scoring by both teams as the Yellow Jackets came away with the 69-55 victory.