ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's basketball team continued their hot start to the 2023-24 season with a convincing 93-58 win at home versus Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday afternoon. The Thunder are now 5-0 while the Battling Bishops fall to 1-5.
The MTI Center looked a lot like the Thanksgiving table the way the team distributed the basketball. Dishes like your traditional turkey, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole were passed around the table just like Trine players that had passes that led to assists on 25 of their 35 made field goals, a mark the ties them for sixth in the most assists by the team in a single game. The Thunder were 20-for-31 in the second half (64.5%) and netted 57 points. Five student-athletes finished in double figures in the win.
Ohio Wesleyan called for a timeout less than two minutes into the game after Trine bombarded the visitors with five points, both made field goals coming off assists by Aidan Smylie. After four minutes of keeping the Battling Bishops off the scoreboard, the team finally broke through for a made shot from deep. Emmanuel Megnanglo responded with a pair of dunks that helped get Ohio Wesleyan out of the zone they were in.
The lead would be extended to double figures at 18-7 thanks to five points by Drew Moore. Smylie connected for back-to-back triples to push the lead to 26-13 with eight minutes to go in the first half. Cortez Garland, Brent Cox and Fred Garland all added their scores to keep the Thunder in front 36-24 at the break.
Cox opened the second half with three baskets that helped make up for a slower shooting first half for Trine. Ohio Wesleyan remained a thorn in the side of the home squad with their shooting from behind the three-point line. Nate Tucker found Fred Garland for two and head coach Brooks Miller used a timeout up 50-35 with 14 minutes to go to refocus defensively.
Megnanglo was able to suck the life out of the Battling Bishop offense with three blocked shots, two that resulted in three-point makes on the other end by Smylie and Moore to balloon the lead to 67-41. The Thunder would dominate the final portion of the contest with a 19-4 run over the last five minutes and change. Logan McKenzie, Cameron Awls, Hayden Jones and Ryan Preston each etched their names into the scoring column with points during that stretch.
The balanced scoring attack was led by Cox and Cortez Garland with 15 points each. Smylie (14 points), Moore (12 points) and Fred Garland (12 points) were also in double figures. Grant Pahl, Tucker and Jones distributed four assists apiece to pace the squad. Trine shot a season-high 55.6% (35-for-63) from the field and 52.4% (11-for-21) from three.
The Thunder hit the road again for their next game on Wednesday, November 29. Trine travels to Heidelberg University for a 7 p.m. tip-off in Tiffin, Ohio.