STEVENS POINT, Wisc. – On Thursday night, the Trine University men's basketball team was defeated by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 53-49. The Thunder were held to a season-low 49 points on 2-of-11 (18.2%) shooting from downtown.
The Pointers of UWSP move to 6-3 overall with the victory and the first loss of the 2022-23 campaign makes the Thunder 6-1.
The shorthanded Trine team had just eight players in the rotation in the game, with four of five starters seeing the floor for over 30 minutes. Early in the game, both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net. At the first media timeout, the teams were tied at 2-2, the Thunder score coming of off an Emmanuel Megnanglo steal.
Working the ball inside seemed to be effective for Trine, as 14 of the team's first 15 points coming in the paint. Nate Carbaugh had a pair of layups and back-to-back possessions resulted in dunks for Megnanglo and Brent Cox. At a timeout at 6:01, the Thunder held a 15-13 advantage.
Over the final minutes of the first half, Stevens Point went on an 11-3 run to reclaim the lead heading into the locker room at 24-18. A pair of offensive rebounds fell Stevens Point's way to help widen their lead. They would go on to hold a 9-4 edge on the offensive glass at the final buzzer.
In the second half, the Trine went back to their strategy to get the ball inside to their forwards. Ten points in the first five minutes of play were scored by Cox, Megnanglo, Carbaugh and Aidan Smylie. The Thunder got the game back to within one two points at 30-28, but scores by the Pointers coming out of the break allowed the home team to have some breathing room.
The sense of security for UWSP only lasted a few moments, however. Megnanglo sparked a 7-0 run to give Trine the lead back at the 11-minute mark. Carbaugh knocked down a three-point shot, the first of the game for the visitors and after that Megnanglo hit a pair of free throws to go up 35-34.
On the subsequent possession, Stevens Point used the dribble drive and a dump off to get back in front and from there, the lead would stay with the Pointers. Jump shots by Carbaugh, Smylie and Connor Jones were countered on the other end. Four straight points by UWSP helped get them to a 48-41 lead and forced head coach Brooks Miller to take a timeout with 3:44 remaining.
Coming out of the stoppage, Cox nailed a turnaround jump shot and a miss on the other end allowed Jackson Jannsen to connect on a three from the corner to make it 48-46 Pointers. Stevens Point thwarted the comeback effort by making a field goal from long range themselves with just over two minutes to play.
Jannsen found Cox for a layup that got the team back to within one possession and Jones split a pair of free throws with 42 ticks left to make it 51-49 UWSP. The Pointers ran the clock down as far as they could but missed a shot with 12 seconds remaining to give the Thunder an opportunity. The team would go for the win with a three, but the shot was blocked and two free throws on the other end sunk Trine in the end.
Carbaugh and Cox tied for the team lead with 11 points apiece, a career-best for the senior Carbaugh. He was 5-of-6 from the field overall. Cox and Megnanglo combined for 20 of the team's 24 rebounds after each of them grabbed 10. Jones (4) and Grant Pahl (3) led the team in assists. On the defensive end of the floor, Megnanglo was responsible for four blocks and three steals.
The road trip continues for Trine on Saturday, December 10 when the Thunder continue west to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. That game tips off at 3 p.m. EST.