ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's basketball held off a comeback attempt by Baldwin Wallace University on Saturday afternoon to move to 4-0 with a 76-70 victory at home.
Offensive rebounding was key in the game as there were a combined 37 boards on that end of the floor. The Yellow Jackets collected 20 of that total and the Thunder 17. Trine was led by Aidan Smylie with 12 rebounds (seven offensive) and Emmanuel Megnanglo with 10 (five offensive). Cortez Garland dropped 26 points for the team lead.
"This was out first bit of adversity that our team has faced all year, outside of a scrimmage, so it was nice to see us fight and do what we have to do to get better," Head Coach Brooks Miller stated postgame. "It's nice to see the guys in their fifth year in Cortez [Garland] and Brent [Cox] calming everyone down and understanding what we are trying to do."
After a Fred Garland made three-point field goal at the start of the game, the Thunder were scoreless until 14:35 remaining in the first half and found themselves trailing 10-3. A 10-4 run with five points by Megnanglo cut the deficit down to one at 14-13, and an and-one by Cortez Garland gave Trine the lead again at 18-18 at the halfway point in the period. Fred Garland completed a 9-0 run for the Thunder, leading to a Baldwin Wallace timeout at 22-17.
The lead remained with Trine through to the end of the half, with the lead growing to as many as 10 at 33-23 off a make by Drew Moore with under two minutes left in the half. It was an eight-point advantage for the Thunder at the break 43-35 by shooting 17-of-35 (48.6%) after a cold start.
Less than three minutes into the second, Baldwin Wallace would cut the Trine lead all the way down to two at 45-43. A Cortez Garland made three would be the only score for the Thunder as the Yellow Jackets reclaimed the lead at 51-48 following an 8-0 run.
Baldwin Wallace maintained the edge on Trine as they were able to match score for score throughout the middle portion of the second. Cortez Garland continued to bolster the offense by driving into the paint and getting scores inside as well as a continued focus on the offensive glass.
Down 65-60 with just over five minutes on the clock, the Thunder built a wave of momentum to go on a 10-0 run and get back in front. Brent Cox made a pair of layups to cap off the scoring spree for Trine and force Baldwin Wallace into a timeout to regroup with 2:12 remaining.
Coming out of a timeout by head coach Brooks Miller, the Thunder needed a basket to expand the lead to two possessions, and Fred Garland came through for the home team with a driving layup to make it 72-67 with just over one minute to go.
The Yellow Jackets called a timeout with the ball out of bounds underneath their own basket and still down five when Smylie put the icing on the cake by stealing the inbounds pass and taking it the other way for a dunk that sent the MTI Center into a frenzy. Baldwin Wallace took one more stab at tying the game following a made three, but free throws by Cortez Garland sealed the victory 76-70.
"A lot of the things that we harp on are the intangibles and just playing basketball," Cortez Garland mentioned. "That's what Coach Miller preaches and it translates on offense and defense, it may look amazing but for us, it's just playing basketball!"
Trine was able to make the most of their opportunities at the charity stripe by going 13-of-14 (92.9%). Along with his team lead in points, Cortez Garland also distributed a team-best four assists. The Thunder had 18 assists on 29 made field goals in the contest.
During the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, be sure to come out to the MTI Center as Trine takes on Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday, November 25 at 2 p.m.