Trine Slams Their Way Home to Victory

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ANGOLA, Ind. - It was a dunk-fest for the Trine University men's basketball team as four different players scored in double-digits in their non-conference win over Wabash 77-69. It almost wasn't enough though for the Thunder as they saw an 18 point second half lead dwindle down to just two.

Trine took a 13 points lead, 44-31, into half time and quickly pushed it to their biggest lead of the game to open the second half at 18 when senior Ian Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) hit the back-end of an and-one situation. Wabash would slowly begin to chip away at the Thunder lead as Trine was held scoreless over a 4 minute period as the Little Giants cut to the lead to single digits at 61-53.

Wabash would continue with a 9-3 run as the Thunder led by just 2 points with 4:47 to play. The Trine offense would kick into gear as the Little Giants would never be that close again. The Thunder would convert on seven free throws in the final two minutes while the defense held strong allowing just two Wabash baskets.

Jackson led all players with a game-high 24 points, five assists and three steals. Fellow senior Scott Rogers earned his first double-double of the season and seventh of his career, scoring 17 points while pulling down a game-high 10 boards. Freshman Jared Holmquist (Reed City, Mich./Reed City) was just a rebound shy of his first collegiate double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds while making two blocks. Another freshman in Nick Tatu (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) also scored in double figures with 12 points, nine of which came from behind the arc. Sophomore Dustin Hall (Fort Wayne, Ind./South Side) matched Jackson with five assists and three steals.

The Thunder turned 16 Wabash turnovers into 21 points as Trine also out-scored the Little Giants 36-18 in the paint. The two sides shot nearly identical from the floor as Wabash hit 24-of-56 (42.9%) while the Thunder made 28-of-67 (41.8%) of their shots.

The play of the night came at 8:12 of the first half when Hall fed an alley-oop to Rogers who slammed the ball home for his second dunk of the night, sending the Trine student section into a frenzy. Jackson and junior transfer Todd Watkins (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Bernard) also threw down dunks to add to their team season-high.

Trine will hit the road on December 8 to take on North Park (IL) for a 2:00 p.m. (est.) game.