CRAWFORDSVILLE, IND.— Trine's men's basketball team was unable to survive a tight road contest at Wabash, as the Thunder fell to the Little Giants 67-65 in overtime Saturday afternoon.
Wabash rallied back from a six point deficit in the final 2:37 to force OT, and outscored Trine 5-3 in the extra frame to take home the victory. The Little Giants were led by Ross Sponsler and Andy Walsh, who each scored 16 points. Sponsler added seven rebounds. Wabash outrebounded Trine by a 44-30 margin. Nick Tatu (Clarkston, Mich.) led Trine with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, with all attempts coming from three-point range. Trine falls to 5-4 on the season. Wabash picks up its first win and is now 1-8 overall.
Will Dixon (Indianapolis, Ind.) added 16 points for Trine while playing the full 45 minutes of the contest. Tyler Good (Swanton, Ohio) filled the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Jared Holmquist (Reed City, Mich.) notched 11 points. Todd Watkins (Cincinnati, Ohio) rounded out the Trine scoring with eight points on 4-of-9 shooting. The Thunder shot 40 percent overall (23-of-57).
Kyle Aiton notched 13 points for Wabash. The Little Giants had five players come away with seven or more rebounds. Wabash held Trine to 9-of-31 shooting (29 percent) over the second half and overtime periods. The Little Giants held a 22-12 scoring edge in the paint and a 24-8 advantage in bench scoring.
The Little Giants faced a 62-56 deficit with 2:37 remaining in the contest. Pete Nicksic hit a layup and drew the foul, converting the free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the deficit to three. After two empty Trine possessions, Sponsler buried a three to tie the score with 31 seconds to play. The Little Giants forced a miss to send the game into overtime.
Trine regained the lead with 4:04 to play in the OT period when Watkins buried a jumper off a dish from Good. Aiton came right back with a layup at the other end to tie the score. Good split a pair of free throws to give Trine the lead again, but Sponsler countered with a layup to give Wabash the lead. After a Trine miss and a foul, Aiton split a pair of free throws with 31 seconds left to provide what would turn out the be the final 67-65 margin.
Trine had several chances to tie, but were unable to convert on any of their three field goal attempts in the closing seconds to give Wabash the victory.
The second half and overtime were a huge change of pace from the first half. The two teams combined for 79 points in the first half, and 53 points the rest of the game. Tatu hit five threes in the first half as the Thunder shot 14-of-26 from the field (54 percent) and 73 percent from three (8-of-11). Wabash connected on 48 percent (14-of-29) from the field prior to halftime.
Trine will look to get back on track when they continue their four-game road trip on New Year's Eve when they travel to Mount Vernon for a 3:00 p.m. non-conference matchup.