ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's basketball team routed Albion College on Saturday afternoon 80-37 in their first Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) game of the 2021-22 season.
The Thunder (8-4, 1-0 MIAA) held a 46-point lead at one point in the second half and held the Britons (5-8, 1-1 MIAA) to 26.7% (12-for-45) from the field and 10.0% (1-for-10) from beyond the arc. Trine tied a season-high by forcing 26 Albion turnovers and that led to 31 points on the other end.
Head Coach Brooks Miller had this to say after the win, "I'm really proud, Albion had a good win on Wednesday and for us to be able to stone face the situation we had [with the postponement of the scheduled Hope game] to be able to bounce back and play the way we did today is great."
Scores on the opening two possessions for the Thunder included a three-point field goal by Aiden Warzecha [Milford, Mich. / Milford] and lay-up from Bryce Williams [Archbold, Ohio / Archbold]. Albion showed a bit of fight to keep the Thunder off the board for almost three minutes, but Trine remained in front 10-8 with 13 minutes to go in the first half.
The Thunder were able to get to the free throw line to spark the scoring once again, with Nick Bowman [Angola, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern] and Brent Cox [Kendallville, Ind. / East Noble] combining to go 6-for-6 at the line.
A steal from Emmanuel Megnanglo [Cotonou, Benin / Amelia Academy] led to a shovel pass and dunk by Mitchell Geller [Huntington, Ind. / Huntington North] for a dunk at the 6:25 mark to make it 25-10 Thunder.
Geller scored two more baskets in a perfect first half from the field and continued to balloon the lead. A Warzecha three capped a 12-0 run with 1:43 to play in the first. An and-one in the final moments in the first half by the Britons made it 37-15 at the break.
A Williams steal and assist to Brent Cox for a lay-up was the first score in the second half and the big men combination of Cox and Geller collectively scored every point in the first five minutes for the home team. Williams answered a score on the other end with an and-one to make it 49-22 with 13:45 remaining.
Rilye Cox [Plymouth, Ind. / La Ville] tied for the team-high in rebounding with six, including one on the defensive end and the ball found him again offensively for a make at the 11-minute mark in the period. A 9-0 run was polished off by Bowman with an and-one in the paint to put the score at 58-24 halfway through the final stanza.
Grant Pahl [Sylvania, Ohio / Southview], Connor Jones [Danville, Ind. / Danville], Griffin Lorimer [Spring Lake, Mich. / Spring Lake], Nate Carbaugh [Fort Wayne, Ind. / North Side] and Aidan Smylie [Franklin, Tenn. / Franklin] all made their impact in the scoring column over the final seven minutes to claim an 80-37 victory in the team's first conference affair.
"It's everybody collectively," junior Brent Cox mentioned postgame. "We all came to win this game and it was a group effort." Cox led a group of five Thunder student-athletes in double figures at 15 points, with Bowman (12), Warzecha (11), Williams (11) and Geller (11) joining him.
It is a quick turnaround for Trine as they travel to Hope College on Monday, January 10 for a make-up contest against the Flying Dutch. Tip-off at Devos Fieldhouse is set for 7 pm.