GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – In the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament Semifinals, the number two seed Trine University men's basketball team was upended by the three seed Hope College, 67-56. The Thunder were unable to overcome a hot shooting night by their opponents, who finished the evening at 57.8% (26-for-45) from the field.
The Flying Dutch move on to the MIAA Tournament Finals where they will face the winner of the Calvin University versus Olivet College game. Hope goes into that matchup with an 18-9 record and have won games on back-to-back days. Trine will look to the NCAA DIII Selection Show to see if their season will continue after achieving a record of 22-4 thus far.
Senior guard Connor Jones found junior forward Emmanuel Megnanglo for three on the opening possession of the game and the Flying Dutch scored on their first try as well to spark a high-octane opening stanza. A pair of and-ones by Jones and senior forward Brent Cox helped make it 12-11 Thunder at the first media timeout.
Hope got out to what would be the largest lead of the first half at 19-15, but a three by senior forward Nate Carbaugh put Trine back on top 20-19 at the halfway point in the period. The lead changed hands a total of 11 times in the half, most of which coming in this stretch of the game. Offensive rebounding by sophomore guard Aidan Smylie and Carbaugh helped the Thunder keep pace with the Flying Dutch.
With the score tied at 31 with 3:31 left in the first, Trine recorded points on five of their final six possessions, but Hope was able to match them down the stretch. Sophomore guard Ryan Preston buried a mid-range jump shot with a defender draped all over him to conclude the first half at 40-38 in favor of the Flying Dutch.
Hope shot 72.7% (16-of-22) in the first half to put themselves in front. The Thunder were credited with eight assists on 13 made field goals, led by Carbaugh with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.
The frantic first half pace ground to a halt in the second as the Flying Dutch extended their advantage. Trine was held to five points in the first 12 minutes of play and the deficit rose to 12 at 55-43. A layup by Jones on an offensive rebound forced a timeout by Hope.
Sophomore guard Grant Pahl scored eight of his 10 points in the final eight minutes of action but the Flying Dutch defense kept the Thunder offense reeling the rest of the night. In total, Trine was outscored 27-18 in the second half of the 67-56 loss.
Hope's shooting line of 57.8% (26-of-45) was difficult to overcome while shooting just 38.8% (19-of-49) from the field themselves. The Flying Dutch displayed dominance inside with a 35-23 rebounding edge and a 40-18 difference in paint points.
Jones netted a team-high 14 points, with Cox (11 points) and Pahl (10 points) also scoring double figures. Megnanglo led in rebounding with six and Smylie distributed four assists.
The NCAA DIII Selection Show will take place on Monday, February 27 at 1 p.m. on www.NCAA.com.
