ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's basketball team clinched a share of their third Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) regular season title on Wednesday night with a 105-74 thrashing of Kalamazoo College. The Thunder have also clinched the number one seed in the MIAA Tournament and will host the semifinal and final rounds of the event on February 23-24.
Trine celebrated their four senior members of the team prior to play. Cameron Awls, Cortez Garland, Brent Cox and Emmanuel Megnanglo were honored and all had outstanding performances on their night to shine. Not only that, but history was also made when Megnanglo blocked his 210th career shot to break the record set in the NAIA days back in 2000 by Jared Boll. It took Boll 126 games to accumulate that many denials in the paint, but it took Megnanglo just 90.
The win puts the Thunder at 22-2 (12-1 MIAA) with one game remaining in the regular season. Kalamazoo falls to 10-14 overall (4-9 MIAA) and is in a must-win situation in order to qualify for the MIAA Tournament.
Aidan Smylie led Trine in scoring with 22 points after a great second half effort from three. Cox entered the half with 17 points and was perfect from the field at 7-for-7 through the first 20 minutes but ended with 19. Drew Moore was responsible for 13 points off the bench. As a team, the Thunder shot a season-high 63.6% (42-for-66) from the field and distributed 24 assists. 105 total points is tied for the seventh-most in a game in program history, while 42 made field goals is third all-time and 63.6% shooting is the fourth-best percentage.
Cox began the game with a made attempt from beyond the arc, but long distance shooting kept the Hornets involved early. The score was tied at 11 after back-to-back triples by Kalamazoo, but 11 consecutive points by the Thunder forced their opponents into a timeout at 12:25 to play in the first half. Fred Garland stole the ball and scored on the other end immediately to draw the stoppage in play.
Another massive scoring run ballooned the lead to 44-22 capped off by a dunk from Smylie. In total, it was a 13-2 run by the seventh-ranked team in NCAA DIII that widened the gap. Cortez Garland knocked down a three-point try and found Cox inside for two in the final seconds of the first half to put the score at 49-29 at halftime.
Shots continued to fall in the second half for Trine as they would rattle off a 56-point period to blowout the Hornets. It was a relentless attack on the offensive and defensive end of the floor with Smylie as the catalyst with a trifecta of made three's and 16 second half points in just eight minutes of court time. In the second half, Trine shot 7-of-10 from deep as a team.
Late in the game, it was the combination of Awls and Logan McKenzie off the bench that took over late in the 105-74 triumph. McKenzie finished with nine points on 4-of-4 from the field and three rebounds. In six minutes, the senior Awls had five points. Nate Tucker recorded great numbers in a variety of categories at nine points, five rebounds and six assists. Grant Pahl had seven points and four assists to his credit.
The regular season finale takes place at home on Saturday, February 17 when #10 Calvin University visits the MTI Center at 3 p.m. A win for the Thunder means they will win the conference outright.