ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's basketball team withstood a late push by Manchester University to prevail, 71-61, and claim its first win of the season in non-conference action and the home opener at Hershey Hall.
Trine shot 47.1 percent (24-of-51) as a team overall, including 53.8 percent (seven-of-13) from three-point range and 84.2 percent (16-of-19) at the free-throw line.
The Thunder were led in scoring by junior forward Myles Copeland (Perrysburg, Ohio/Toledo St. John's) with 21 points on seven-of-15 shooting (46.7 percent), including seven-of-nine (77.8 percent) at the charity stripe. In addition to his 21 points, he also grabbed eight rebounds. Trine had two other players score in double figures in junior Pete Smith (Bristol, Ind./Northridge) who connected on five triples (five-of-eight overall) and finished with 17 points. Sophomore Jason Clune (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) rounded out the high scorers with 11 points and grabbed a game and career-high 11 rebounds to complete his first career double-double.
Trine (1-2) fell behind early by six points, 10-4, but then outscored Manchester (1-3), 7-0, to grab the lead on a jumper by junior Seasn Corcoran (Flint, Mich./Powers) for an 11-10 advantage with 14:18 to go in the first half. A few minutes later, the Thunder went on another 7-0 scoring run to record its first double-digit lead of the game, 31-21, following a three-pointer by Clune at the 6:47 mark.
Manchester began to chip away at the deficit and outscored Trine, 14-6, following the Thunder run and made it a one-possession game, 37-25, with a little more than two minutes to go before halftime. The final four points by Trine to end the half came off the hands of sophomore Maurice Hunter (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) as the Thunder led by four points, 41-37, at the intermission.
The Spartans stayed right with the Thunder in the opening minutes of the second half until a another bucket by Hunter sparked a run of eight straight points that gave Trine some breathing room, 58-44, with 9:11 left in the game. But Manchester rallied again and outscored Trine, 16-4, over the next 7:05 to get to within two points, 62-60, at the 2:06 mark.
An ensuing three-pointer by Pete Smith, put the Thunder up by five points, 65-60. Following one-of-two free-throws by Manchester, Trine put the game away at the free-throw line with six consecutive freebies as the Spartans missed their final five shots, resulting in the Thunder going on to the 71-61 final.
Trine will host Baldwin Wallace University on Monday, Nov. 27 at Hershey Hall. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.