ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's basketball team went head-to-head with fellow Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and nationally-ranked opponent, the Calvin University Knights on Saturday afternoon. After a grueling battle, #21 Calvin was able to top the 16th-ranked Thunder by a score of 54-47.
Trine is now 15-2 on the season and fall to 5-1 in MIAA action. The Knights remain unbeaten in league play at 6-0 and have a record of 14-3 in the 2022-23 season.
Head coach Brooks Miller had this to say postgame, "I think we created some turnovers and made some plays when we had to make them, but we just couldn't turn enough of those into points. If you look at the free throw line, we were 11-of-19, I think that has to do with the fatigue factor. They wore on us and were physical. We'll bounce back! We have a lot of work to do."
The Thunder won the turnover battle 20-14, but the Knights were able to outscore the home team off of those miscues by a mark of 18-15. Calvin crashed the glass hard for 49 total rebounds (17 on offense), while Trine had just 34. That led to a 13-1 difference in second chance points.
Trine limited Calvin to just 36.0% (18-of-50) shooting, but the Thunder had even more trouble getting the ball through the net at 28.6% (16-of-56).
Both teams struggled to take the lid off the basket in the first half. Aidan Smylie and Connor Jones had a pair of scores in the first three minutes, but trailing 6-4, both teams would see a scoreless spell of nearly four minutes that spanned from 16:34 to 12:47. Nate Carbaugh buried a three-point field goal to give Trine the lead.
The advantage would be short-lived, however, as Calvin netted back-to-back scores to reclaim the lead and the visitors would not look back from there. A made field goal by Grant Pahl with nine minutes left in the first half would be the only make from the field for the Thunder until two minutes and change when Jones hit a jump shot and took a steal the other way for two. That brought Trine to within four at 19-15, but a made three by the Knights kept the momentum on their side. Brent Cox connected inside to close a 22-17 first half.
Calvin came out of the locker room and scored eight in a row to go ahead by double figures at 30-17. Jones ended that run with consecutive baskets for Trine and Emmanuel Megnanglo was true on a corner three, followed by a pair of blocks on the defensive end to close the gap to 32-24. He would finish the day with five blocked shots.
Three-point plays on Calvin's end would push the lead back up to double figures at 39-29 with 11 minutes to go. Ryan Preston scored on a mid-range jump shot and was fouled that led to the Knights head coach getting a technical foul and a four-point play for the Thunder that cut the deficit to six. The Thunder continued to hound the Knights on defense and worked it down to 44-40 thanks to a Carbaugh jump shot.
Late in the game, Calvin looked as though they had sealed the win up 51-42 with 37 seconds remaining, but Jones would lead a minor comeback that was nearly completed. He knocked down a three and got a steal in the back court that resulted in two points to bring the game to 51-47, but there was not enough time nor misses at the free throw line by the Knights.
Jones led the scoring with a game-high 17 points. He and Cox (10 points) were in double-figures. Smylie had 10 rebounds for the Thunder and four steals on the defensive end.
Trine is on the road for both their Wednesday and Saturday games next week, starting with a trip to Adrian College on January 25. Tip-off will be at 7:30 p.m.
