ANGOLA, Ind. – In the finale of the St. Andrews Products Classic on Sunday afternoon, the Trine University men's basketball team moved to 9-1 overall with a 71-56 victory over the visiting Lawrence University Vikings (5-8). Connor Jones was extraordinary in the game with a career-high 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He made four attempts from long range and grabbed four rebounds while dishing out three assists.
The Thunder took care of the basketball with only six turnovers, the fewest in a game since February 3, 2021 when Trine slaughtered Hope by a tally of 91-52. On the flip side, the team forced Lawrence into coughing up the basketball 19 times.
"It was a game of spurts," the senior Jones said in his postgame media coverage. "They went on runs, we went on runs - it's about how you fight back. I thought Cam (Awls) did a good job bringing the ball up the floor for us."
The Vikings were able to throw the first punch in the ballgame by claiming a 7-3 lead, but from there it was seven unanswered by the home team. Grant Pahl found Jones for three while Brent Cox and Cameron Awls had two points each via a made jump shot and two free throws. Turnovers that led to scores by Emmanuel Megnanglo and Jones eight minutes into the period allowed them to go up 14-11 and the Thunder would maintain that advantage for the rest of the half.
Lawrence never let their opponents feel comfortable, as the largest lead of the first half was only six for Trine. Jackson Jannsen distributed the basketball to Cox for the trifecta that put the margin at 23-17 with eight minutes to play in the first. Jones would connect from deep as well a few minutes later to keep Lawrence two possessions away with 5:32 remaining.
Ryan Preston, Pahl and Nate Carbaugh would all cash in on scoring opportunities late in the half as the Thunder took a four-point lead into halftime at 31-27. The Vikings were held to one make from three-point range in the first half, but a 13-6 difference in free throw attempts allowed them to remain close.
The teams traded punches once more to open the second half. Lawrence inched their way back to within one possession a handful of times, but counter attacks by Trine prevented them from building enough momentum to regain the lead. Unlike in most games for the Thunder this season, the offense came primarily from the guard position as Pahl, Jones and Awls got into the paint and caused chaos for the opposing defenders.
Three-point makes by Jones and Aidan Smylie extended the Trine lead to double figures at 54-43 with under eight minutes to go in the game. The Vikings made one final push and got all the way to within seven points with five minutes left, but a block by Cox that looked like a volleyball spike deflated Lawrence in their comeback attempt. An 11-3 run from that point on, highlighted by eight points by Pahl, ballooned the lead all the way to 69-52.
Colin Shriver knocked down free throws on the final Thunder offensive possession to get to the 71-56 final score. From the charity stripe, Trine was 15-for-16, good for a free throw percentage of 93.8%, the fifth-highest mark in program history.
Jones led the team with his 24 points, but also in double figures were Cox at 16 points and Pahl with a career-best 15 points. Megnanglo pulled in 10 of the team's 26 total rebounds and Cox distributed a team-high four assists. He would also turn away three shot attempts by Lawrence on the afternoon.
After a brief hiatus for the holidays, the Thunder return to the court on Thursday, December 29. Trine hits the road at Baldwin Wallace University for a 2 p.m. tip-off.