ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's basketball team defeated Adrian College 88-63 at home Wednesday to snap a two-game losing spell and get above .500 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play halfway through the conference slate.
The Thunder (11-7, 4-3 MIAA) got back on track offensively with a season-high 35 made field goals and 88 points, tying their best score this season. Trine also pulled down 12 offensive rebounds, a season-high. The Bulldogs (3-15, 2-5 MIAA) shot 46.9% (23-for-49) from the field, but were limited to just 21.1% (4-for-19) from downtown.
The Thunder fell behind 4-0 before Mitchell Geller [Huntington, Ind. / Huntington North] got free inside for a dunk to put Trine on the board. Adrian made their first four shots of the game to take an 8-2 lead.
"It was nice for us to battle some adversity early and continue to stick to the gameplan," Head Coach Brooks Miller said after the game. "We had some great looks at the basket in the first seven or so minutes of the game, they just didn't go in and they were hitting some tough ones. I turned to Coach Lehman and I said, 'Hey, we're getting great looks. We gotta stay in the fight and wear them down.'"
Geller was once again present inside to keep Trine within striking distance and had racked up eight of the team's 12 points in the first eight minutes. Nick Bowman [Angola, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern] made a putback at the halfway point in the first to keep it within one possession, 19-16.
The first lead of the game did not come for the Thunder until 4:53 to go in the first when Connor Jones [Danville, Ind. / Danville], who returned to the starting lineup, sank a pair of free throws. The freebees were in the midst of an 11-0 run for the home team that really turned the tide in the game. Hayden Jones [Kendallville, Ind. / East Noble] finished inside for an and-one during the scoring spurt as well to seize momentum.
Bowman turned defense into easy offense with a steal and made dunk on the other end that got the MTI crowd on their feet. Heading into the locker room, Trine held a 34-27 lead. The Thunder used nine steals on 13 first half turnovers to score 17 points on the other end.
Bowman answered an Adrian lay-up with a make while being fouled to fuel a run of six consecutive makes to tart the second half. Aiden Warzecha [Milford, Mich. / Milford] found a cutting Bowman for a dunk in traffic. Bryce Williams [Archbold, Ohio / Archbold] knocked down the first three-point field goal of the game and Bowman connected on three free throws after being fouled on a shot behind the arc to go up 49-38 less than five minutes into the second half.
Williams went on to hit two more on back-to-back possessions with 13 minutes to go to continue to extend the lead. The Thunder poured it on in the second half, shooting 71.9% (23-for-32) in a 54-point second half and taking a 25-point lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
Brent Cox [Kendallville, Ind. / East Noble] turned it on late in the game and finished with nine second half points. Ryan Preston [Fort Wayne, Ind. / Carroll] and Nate Carbaugh [Fort Wayne, Ind. / North Side] each got in the scoring column in the closing minutes of an 88-63 victory.
Bowman finished with a season-high 28 points on 12-of-21 shooting and brought in a team-high seven rebounds. The pair of Bowman (six) and Emmanuel Megnanglo [Cotonou, Benin / Amelia Academy] (four) combined for 10 of the team's 17 steals.
"The big focus today was getting points in the paint," the senior guard Bowman stated postgame. "We knew we had them outsized and we had 58 points in the paint to their 30, points off of turnovers we won 32-10, we got back to what we did well last year, what we're best at."
Trine continues their home stand on Saturday, January 29 against Olivet College at 3 pm.