NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. – Manchester University put together a gritty 40 minutes to end its pre-Thanksgiving holiday schedule Wednesday, Nov. 23.

Sophomore guard Adrian Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) posted a team-high 16 points on six-of-11 field goal shooting to go with two assists, one of two steals the home team gathered and two rebounds. Junior forward Kenny Doss (Chicago, Ill.) came off the bench for a productive evening of 15 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots, and senior guard Tyler Alexander (Indianapolis, Ind.) added 10 points as part of a hard-fought 84-77 defeat at the hands of Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association perennial top half challenger Trine University.

Playing in front of a small but vocal Black and Gold crowd inside Stauffer-Wolfe Arena, the two sides spent most of their Thanksgiving Eve clash throwing haymakers at each other.

Trine, improving to 3-1, bolted out to a 17-7 advantage less than five minutes in, but Coach Gerad Good's crew, dropping to 0-3, found itself leading 28-27 at the 5:03 mark on the heels of a 20-11 stretch. TU answered late in the half, going on an 8-0 roll to lead 35-31 at the break. The visitors continued that stretch, building the lead to as much as 11 during the second 20 minutes before the Spartans surged down the stretch, cutting the deficit to two (66-64) with 5:30 left. Enter Thunder guard Will Dixon who connected on a bucket, was fouled and hit a free throw to extend the lead to 69-64 which was enough to ignite the visitors down the stretch to the win.

MU concludes a stretch of four in a row against the MIAA Wednesday, Nov. 30, as Olivet College visits for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.