GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Trine University men's basketball team dropped their second straight Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) game on Saturday 55-54 to the Calvin University Knights.
The Thunder (10-7, 3-3 MIAA) got a career-high 23 points out of senior forward Mitchell Geller [Huntington, Ind. / Huntington North], including 18 in the second half alone. Geller scored a lay-up on an inbounds play and Nick Bowman [Angola, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern] sank a pair of free throws to cut the deficit down to one, but the Knights (10-6, 3-2 MIAA) were able to hold on in the closing seconds for the win.
No matter what Trine did, they could not the lid off the rim to start the game. 14 straight missed shots and four turnovers resulted in nearly 12 minutes of scoreless action for the visitors before Geller banked home a jump shot. At that point, Calvin had gotten out to a 15-2 lead and the Thunder would have to dig deep to keep the game from getting away from them.
The unit of Ryan Preston [Fort Wayne, Ind. / Carroll], Aidan Smylie [Franklin, Tenn. / Franklin], Rilye Cox [Plymouth, Ind. / La Ville], Nate Carbaugh [Fort Wayne, Ind. / North Side] and Griffin Lorimer [Spring Lake, Mich. / Spring Lake] provided a much-needed spark, as a Carbaugh steal led to a Preston and-one opportunity on the offensive end.
Facing their largest hole of the game at 19-4, Hayden Jones [Kendallville, Ind. / East Noble] connected from deep to start an 18-7 run to close the first half. Bowman and Grant Pahl [Sylvania, Ohio / Southview] knocked down three-point attempts of their own to cut it to single digits and Bowman hit five from the charity stripe to make it 26-22 Calvin at recess.
Geller made his presence known in half number two as the Thunder scored six straight points to open the period. The senior was fouled on a made lay-up to give Trine their first lead of the game 27-26 at the 18:11 mark in the second.
Geller put up eight in a row for the Thunder from the 13:16 mark through 7:54, but five different trips to the free throw line for the Knights allowed them to retain the advantage, 46-37. Bryce Williams [Archbold, Ohio / Archbold] and Aiden Warzecha [Milford, Mich. / Milford] put their names on the scoreboard as the clock got under six minutes, but scores from the Knights countered the scores from the seniors.
The defense collapsed on the red-hot Geller and Warzecha made it a one possession game, 51-49 after netting a three. Calvin called an effective timeout, as they got the lead back up to 55-50 thanks to a long distance three-point field goal.
Head Coach Brooks Miller called for time to draw up a play for none other than Geller in the paint and that made it 55-52 with 1:34 left. Following a stop on the other end, Bowman sank a pair of freebees to make it a one-point game with 21 seconds remaining. Warzecha got a steal in the backcourt, giving Trine the last opportunity to tie or take the lead.
A deflection went out of bounds, giving the Thunder a chance on an out-of-bounds underneath with 3.4 seconds to play. The inbounds went to Williams, who was forced to take a tough, contested three in the corner which was off the mark. A putback attempt from Geller at the buzzer was no good as well as the Knights held on for the 55-54 victory.
Calvin moved ahead Trine in the league standings and is now third in the MIAA, while the Thunder fall to fourth-place through six conference games. Along with Geller's 23 points, Bowman contributed with 13 of his own. Warzecha filled the stat sheet in multiple categories again with a team-high in assists (5) and steals (3).
Trine returns home to take on Adrian College on Wednesday, January 26 at 7:30 pm inside MTI Center.
