ANGOLA, Ind.-- The Trine men's basketball team used a lockdown defensive effort down the stretch to defeat Adrian, 69-55 in MIAA-action Wednesday night in Hershey Hall.
The Thunder held the Bulldogs to without a field goal for a span of 7:42 as Trine turned a two-point advantage into a 15-point cushion with a 17-4 surge. During that stretch, the Thunder forced eight missed field goal attempts and three Adrian turnovers. Jared Holmquist (Reed City, Mich./Reed City) paced the offensive effort with 18 points. Christian Covile and Rickey Jackson Jr. each scored 16 points to pace the Bulldogs. Trine improved to 12-2 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA with the victory. Adrian fell to 8-6 overall, 1-2 in conference play.
Kyle Dodson (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) came off the bench to score 15 points for Trine, connecting on 4-of-7 three-point attempts. Dodson entered the game ranked 13th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage. Ben Syroka (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer) added a season-high 11 points and knocked down all eight of his free throw attempts. As a team, the Thunder hit 21-of-24 from the charity strip (87.5 percent).
The top two scoring defenses in the MIAA made offense hard to come by for both teams. Trine shot 40 percent from the floor (20-of-50) and knocked down 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) from long distance. The Bulldogs were held to a 32.8 percent (19-of-58) overall effort. Adrian converted just 10-of-19 (52.9 percent) of its free throw attempts.
Neither team led by more than five points before the deciding stretch began at the 8:33 mark of the second half. Four-straight points from Holmquist pushed a 46-44 lead into a 50-44 advantage to start the run.
Back-to-back possessions featured scoring off extra possessions as the Thunder hit the offensive glass hard down the stretch. A layup-and-one by Dodson off a miss pushed the lead to nine, before Ellis Cummings (Ottawa Hills, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) stuck back a miss to push the lead to double-digits with 4:22 to play.
Cummings made an important impact for Trine, scoring nine points and grabbing nine rebounds. He added one block. Four of the sophomore's boards came on the offensive end.
After a pair of Ben Rodak free throws, Will Dixon (Indianapolis, Ind./Zionsville) pushed the lead right back to double-digits with his only made jumper of the night. From that point out, the Thunder were able to ice the game from the free throw line. Trine hit its last 12 free throw attempts.
The Bulldogs were only able to muster four made free throws from the 8:33 mark of the second half until just 51 seconds remained in the contest.
Trine returns to action Saturday with a showdown at no. 4 Hope. The Dutch are coming off a loss to Alma and will enter the contest 12-2 overall. The Thunder will enter 12-2 as well and are receiving Top 25 votes.