ANGOLA, Ind. – After receiving votes in the D3hoops.com Top 25 preseason poll, the Trine University men's basketball team has entered the rankings at 24th after starting the season at 5-0. The rankings have shifted dramatically over the course of the first few games, Trine being one of ten new schools inside the Top 25 in week one.
The Thunder have won their five games by an average scoring margin of 20.2 points per game. Trine beat Hanover College and Mount St. Joseph University in the Lauren Hill Classic then won their first three contests at home versus Franklin College, Baldwin Wallace University and Ohio Wesleyan University.
Most recently, the Thunder defeated Ohio Wesleyan on November 25 by a score of 93-58. Trine shot 55.6% in the game at 35-for-63 and 52.4% from deep at 11-for-21. Their hot shooting was fueled by elite passing. Of the 35 made field goals, 25 of them had assists attached to them. The Thunder had five players in double figures, led by senior forward Brent Cox and senior guard Cortez Garland at 15 points each.
Junior guard Aidan Smylie scored a season-high 14 points against the Battling Bishops with four made three-point field goals. Smylie had a good scoring game last week, but has made his impact on winning in other ways as well. He has a 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, good for 14th in NCAA DIII, and leads the team in rebounds (8.2 per game), assists (4.0 per game) and steals (3.0 per game).
The lone game this week for the men's basketball team is on Wednesday, November 29 at Heidelberg University. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.