CLEVELAND, OHIO-- Trine defeated St. Vincent 62-58 Monday evening to advance to the championship game of the Bill Sudeck Holiday Tournament, hosted by Case Western Reserve University.
A 12-0 run spanning from the 2:16 mark of the first half to the 14:05 mark of the second gave the Thunder the lead for good, and TU was able to withstand a late push by the Bearcats to earn the victory. Jared Holmquist (Reed City, Mich./Reed City) came up big for Trine, scoring a season-high 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting. He knocked down all three of his free throw attempts. Pat Jones notched a double-double for St. Vincent, with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. Trine improved to 6-3, with wins in six of their last seven contests. The Bearcats fell to 6-4.
Tyler Good (Swanton, Ohio/Evergreen) scored 13 points for the Thunder, while Ben Syroka (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer) added 10 points. Will Dixon (Indianapolis, Ind./Zionsville) dished out a season-high six assists to go along with his eight points.
The two teams shot nearly identical percentages from the field (47 percent for the Thunder, 46 percent for SVC) but Trine had the advantage at the foul line, knocking down 15-of-21 (71 percent) free throws to an 8-of-10 clip for the Bearcats.
JC Howard added 12 points for St. Vincent. The Bearcats outrebounded the Thunder by a 34-23 margin.
Neither team led by more than six during the first half. After a 7-0 run gave the Bearcats a one-point lead, Trine began to take control with a late Holmquist layup to take a 29-28 lead into the half.
Holmquist continued to lead the offensive charge early in the second half to close out the 12-0 run, scoring seven more points on a pair of layups and an old-fashioned three-point play. Holmquist was at his best in the second half, scoring 15 of his points and hitting all six of his field goal attempts in the final 20 minutes.
Good added a layup, and Joel Zwiers (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian) knocked down a three to make the score 39-28 with 14:05 to play. All told, Trine held the Bearcats without a bucket for a span of 9:27 as the Thunder opened up the double-digit lead.
St. Vincent pulled as close as three on two occasions in the closing minutes, but Trine was able to close out the game at the free throw line. The Thunder knocked down 11 free throws in the final 2:05 to seal the victory.
Trine will face Case Western Reserve or Geneva in the championship of the Bill Sudeck Holiday Tournament tomorrow at 4 p.m.