ANGOLA, IND. -- Senior guard Myles Copeland (Perrysburg, Ohio/Toledo St. John's) scored a game-high 26 points and junior Pete Smith (Bristol, Ind./Northridge) added 20 points as the Trine University men's basketball team won big against Great Lakes Christian College, 103-67, at Hershey Hall.
The Thunder shot 55.4 percent (41-of-74) for the game, including 40.9 percent (nine-of-22) from three-point range and 85.7 percent (12-of-14) at the free-throw line. Trine also out-rebounded Great Lakes Crhistian, 45-26. Trine's defense held GLCC to 39.0 percent shooting (23-of-59) and forced 19 turnovers which led to 27 Thunder points.
Copeland shot nine-of-15 (60.0 percent) from the floor, including eight-of-10 (80.0 percent) at the charity stripe to pace all scorers with his 26 points. Six of Smith's seven made field goals in the game came from long range to finish the game with 20 points. Also scoring in double figures were sophomores Kelham Brown (Huntertown, Ind./Carroll) and Maurice Hunter (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) with season-highs of 16 and 14 points, respectively. Brown also grabbed a game-tying high seven rebounds. In addition, freshman Jalen Paul (Fort Wayne, Ind./Churubusco) had a big night running the offense with a game and season-high 10 assists.
After giving up the game's first basket, Trine (2-4) scored 15 straight points that included a pair of dunks by Copeland and Hunter, to put the Thunder ahead, 15-2. GLCC (1-10) responded with a 8-2 scoring run to narrow the gap to single digits, 17-10, with 12:57 left in the first half. But Trine answered quickly as a layup by Brown sparked an 18-0 run that ended in a jumper by Copeland to give the home team its largest lead of the period of 25 points, 35-10, at the 7:46 mark.
The Crusaders later pulled to within 15 points, 40-25, with 4:20 left to play, but a triple by Smith, followed by a three-point play by sophomore Nick Daman (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon) extended the Thunder lead back beyond the 20-point plateau, 46-25, en route to a 49-32 advantage at the break.
The second half began with a GLCC three-pointer to make it a 14-point game, 49-35. Trine then scored eight unanswered points, with five points coming from Paul, to make it a 57-35 game at the 18:35 mark. The Thunder continued to pull away at that point and recorded its first 30-point margin at the 13:25 mark following a tre by sophomore Langston Johnson (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central).
The Trine lead was never threatened the rest of the way who went on to lead by as many as 41 points, 103-62, late in the game on a layup by Brown with just under two minutes to go. The final points of the contest were all scored by the Crusaders, but the Thunder already had sealed the victory and cruised to the 103-67 final.
Trine will host the two-day St. Andrews Products Classic this Friday-Saturday, Dec. 8-9 at Hershey Hall. On Friday, the Thunder will take on Wisconsin Lutheran College in their first game of the event with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.
