ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's basketball team stayed in the seventh position in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll released this week. The top nine spots in the poll were unchanged, with Hampden-Sydney College still on top and Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) rival Calvin University in fourth. The Thunder and Knights will meet for the first time in the 2023-24 season on Wednesday, January 24 in a top-10 clash.
Calvin is the final team that Trine has to beat to go through the league for the first time undefeated. Both teams enter play with a 16-1 overall record and are 6-0 inside the MIAA. The pair are two of the most efficient teams in all of NCAA DIII with the Thunder ranked 11th in field goal percentage (49.3%) and the Knights 38th (47.4%). Both teams also do a great job at limiting their opponents with Trine at 40.5% and Calvin 38.2% in field goal percentage defense.
Most recently, the Thunder defeated Hope College on Saturday with a strong final five minutes of the first half and a 14-point edge in the second half for an 85-70 win on the road. Hope entered the gamr having received votes in last week's Top 25. Trine received three 20-point performances in that game with 25 points by Cortez Garland, a career-high 22 points from Nate Tucker and an even 20 points out of Fred Garland.
With a majority of the scoring coming from the guard positions against the Flying Dutch, the defense was anchored at the forward spots with Brent Cox and Emmanuel Megnanglo. Cox secured 11 rebounds in 18 minutes played. It is the second game this season for Cox with more than 10 rebounds in a single game. Megnanglo was second on the team with eight rebounds and blocked five shots as he closes in on 200 in his career and the Trine men's basketball program record.
The battle between #4 Calvin and #7 Trine will take place in Grand Rapids, Michigan beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 24. From there, the Thunder will take on the Adrian College Bulldogs at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday, January 28 at 5:15 p.m. immediately following the Detroit Pistons versus Oklahoma City Thunder game at 2 p.m.