DETROIT, Mich. – The Adrian College Bulldogs and the Trine University Thunder competed at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday in men's basketball and the Thunder were able to secure a 69-65 victory at the home of the Detroit Pistons. The game followed the NBA contest between the Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder, where the home team was able to net a 120-104 win.
#7 Trine is now 18-1 overall and remain perfect in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play at 8-0. The team is riding a 10-game win streak. Adrian drops to 5-14 with the loss and the team is 3-5 in conference action.
The Thunder were loose with the basketball in their hand for a season-high 23 turnovers but were able to force 25 from the Bulldogs to help them prevail at the final buzzer. Trine had 16 steals, led by Emmanuel Megnanglo with five. He would add four blocked shots as well and grabbed seven rebounds. Aidan Smylie was the leader on the glass with 10.
Adrian went up 4-0 in the opening minutes as the Thunder struggled to take the lid off the rim. Their first points came from a Fred Garland layup over three minutes in. The lead would stay with the Bulldogs until nearly eight minutes into the game when Garland would sink two free throws to make it 8-8.
An and-one by Nate Tucker gave Trine their first outright lead of the game at 17-14 just beyond the halfway point in the first. Adrian would reclaim the lead, but Cortez Garland and Brent Cox began to heat up on the offensive end of the floor to make the score 31-27 with under three minutes to play in the half. Drew Moore helped get the score to 36-30 at the break.
Smylie answered a first possession three by the Bulldogs with one of his own, but Adrian would claw their way back to even at 45-45 with 13:29 on the clock. An and-one by Moore made it a two-possession game once more with ten minutes to go in what was a tightly contested game throughout.
Cortez Garland scored off a feed by Cox to put the Thunder in front 57-55 with seven minutes and change remaining. Head Coach Brooks Miller used a timeout and from that point on, the lead would stay with Trine.
Fred Garland put the ball in the cup successfully late in the game, but the Bulldogs were in striking distance. After a timeout by Trine at 2:16 to go, Moore would drive in for a layup to extend the lead to 64-62. Adrian would answer on the other end, but Cortez Garland buried a mid-range jumper to keep the lead at two possessions.
A block by Smylie with 40 seconds left led to a 1-for-2 trip to the charity stripe by Fred Garland to make it 69-64 with 32 seconds to go. The Bulldogs would get multiple attempts in the closing seconds, but none of them optimal. A free throw with two seconds left would be the final point of the game as Trine escaped with the victory, 69-65.
Four student-athletes were in double figures, led by Fred Garland with 17. Cox and Cortez Garland each recorded 13-point performances and Moore tallied 12 points off the bench. Trine shot 43.6% (24-for-55) from the field and Adrian was at 45.7% (41-for-46).
The Thunder are at home for five of the final six games of the regular season as they look to close out the MIAA title chase. The next game will be on Wednesday, January 31 when Hope College makes their annual visit to the MTI Center. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.