ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's basketball team completed its first undefeated regular season in the school's NCAA Division III era with an 82-53 win against Albion (Mich.) College at the MTI Center.
With the win, the Thunder improve to 14-0 overall and finish a perfect 5-0 against conference opponents.
Trine had four players score in double figures against Albion led by sophomore Brent Cox (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) with a game-tying high 19 points on eight-of-10 shooting (80.0 percent). He also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. Junior Nick Bowman (Angola, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) was second in scoring with 15 points and sophomore Connor Jones (Danville, Ind./Danville) was third with 14 points.
Junior Mitchell Geller (Huntington, Ind./Huntington North) rounded out the high scorers with 11 points.
As a team, Trine shot 53.2 percent (33-of-62) for the game to Albion's 37.1 percent (23-of-62) shooting. The Thunder also had 25 assists to the Britons' 12 helpers. Three Trine players tallied five or more assists with Bowman and junior Aiden Warzecha (Milford, Mich./Milford) both recording five assists and junior Bryce Williams (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) having a game-high six assists.
Trine (14-0, 5-0 MIAA) never trailed in the game and led by four points, 10-6, early when the Thunder outscored Albion (8-3, 5-1 MIAA), 16-4, to lead by 16 points with 9:31 left to go in the first half following a layup by Bowman. The margin remained in double figures the rest of the way and later hit the 20-point mark with just under two minutes to go when Jones connected on a three-point play to make it a 42-22 ball game.
The Thunder led by as many as 21 points in the period thanks to another three-point play, this time by Warzecha, to make the score 45-24 en route to Trine boasting a 45-29 advantage at the intermission.
Leading by 22 points nearing the midway point of the second half, Trine went on a 10-2 scoring run to eclipse the 30-point margin for the first time in the contest with a score of 76-44 after a jumper by Geller with 7:24 left to play. The lead later increased to as many as 35 points, 82-47, when junior Reese McGinsie (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) hit a triple at the 2:58 mark.
Albion scored the final six points of the game, but Trine had already secured the victory and went on to the final of 82-53.
Trine will next set its sights on the MIAA Tournament that begins on Tuesday, Mar. 2. The Thunder will host the game against an opponent yet to be announced at 7:30 p.m. at the MTI Center.