ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's basketball team continued their hot start to the 2022-23 season with a convincing 76-60 victory against the Capital University Comets on Sunday afternoon. The Thunder shot above 50% from the field (30-of-57) and from three (9-of-16) for the first time this year.
Trine head coach Brooks Miller made a few changes to the starting rotation and you could tell right away that the moves would pay off in making the difference in the game. All five starters were in double figures scoring, including sophomore Aidan Smylie, who scored a career-high 14 points. He also led the team in +/- at +29.
"I was excited to get my first start," Smylie said postgame. "The key was to knock down shots, don't turn the ball over and find the first open man." His 14 points came on a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and knocked down three shots from distance. "The three has been a big thing for me this year, it felt good today. I've been working a lot on my shot."
Both teams turned the ball over at a high rate immediately following tip-off, but eventually both were able to settle in and knock down shots once they saw the first one fall. Emmanuel Megnanglo, who led the team with 18 points and eight rebounds in the contest, banked one home inside the paint a few minutes in to put the home team on the board.
Cameron Awls had back-to-back baskets at the five-minute mark in the first half to jump start his day off the bench. "We have to win the turnover margin, and with a guard like Cam, he helps contribute to winning the turnover battle," Coach Miller explained. "No turnovers from him and three assists, and a couple of them were big! When he drives and dished to Emmanuel or Brent and they hammer one down, those are worth more than just two points, especially at home!"
The Thunder scored 11 in a row, capped off by a Megnanglo jump shot, that put the team up 13-4 and forced two Capital timeouts. Trine picked up the pace and scored in transition to take a commanding 26-11 advantage highlighted by a pair of threes by Jackson Jannsen.
One of Awls dump offs to Megnanglo came with seven minutes remaining in the first, when he found the big man in traffic for a dunk. Smylie would bury a three-point field goal on the following possession to extend the lead to 17, the largest of the first half.
The Comets rattled off nine in a row to work their way back into the game, but ultimately at the end of the half, the Thunder were on top by a score of 45-31. Trine shot 58.6% (17-for-29) from the field in the first and knocked down five shots from distance to put themselves in control.
Pace of play did not slow down in the second stanza, and started with a thunderous block by Megnanglo, followed by a slam on the other end to go ahead 50-34. Connor Jones took over the game around six minutes into half number two by getting to the rim for a pair of layups and finding Brent Cox for three on consecutive possessions.
The lead ballooned all the way to 66-38 when Jannsen once again got hot from deep. The largest lead of the day came with seven minutes to go at 72-42 off of a Megnanglo jump shot. Unfortunately, the offense would slow to a stop as the Comets scored the final 13 points and rolled the final tally to 76-60.
Megnanglo scored his 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting and blocked three shots to put him over the 100 mark for his career. Inside, the two teams tied on the boards (30-30) and points in the paint (40-40). The biggest edge for Trine was holding the Capital shooters to just 4-for-18 (22.2%) from three-point range. The Thunder were also able to hold a 24-7 advantage off of turnovers.
The homestand continues for the Thunder on Wednesday, November 30 when the Anderson University Ravens visit the MTI Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.