HOLLAND, Mich. -- The Trine men's basketball team pushed No. 21 Hope to overtime, but the Flying Dutchmen came away with an 83-76 victory over the Thunder in MIAA-action Wednesday night at DeVos Fieldhouse.
The Thunder led by as much as 10 in the second half, but the Flying Dutch used a 12-2 run and a late bucket to force overtime. Hope went on to score the first 11 points of overtime to complete the comeback. Dante Hawkins paced the Dutch with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting and added five assists. Kyle Dodson (Centerville, Ohio / Centerville) led the Thunder with 17 points. Hope clinched the outright MIAA regular-season title, improving to 18-4 overall and 11-0 in the conference. Trine fell to 11-11 overall and 6-5 in MIAA play.
Trine built a 10-point lead early in the second half after outscoring the Flying Dutch 21-10 over a span of 8:49. That turned a one-point Hope lead into a 49-39 Thunder advantage with 15:05 to play.
The Flying Dutch remained within striking distance throughout the second half, finally using a 12-2 run to tie the score at 67-67 with 4:19 to play. The defense of both teams tightened up down the deciding stretch as each team scored just two poins over the next three minutes. Dodson put Trine in front, 71-69, on a put-back with 43 seconds left, but Cody Stuive answered with his own put-back to tie things up with 21 seconds remaining and send the game to OT.
An 11-0 run over the first 2:50 of the extra stanza clinched the victory for Hope. Mitchell O'Brien accounted for five of those points. A Langston Johnson (Elkhart, Ind. / Elkhart Central) three got Trine on the board, but three offensive rebounds in the final 1:50 helped the Dutch seal the win.
Stuive scored 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting for Hope. O'Brien added 10 points off the bench. The Flying Dutch were opportunistic in converting 16 Thunder turnovers into 22 points. Hope also outscored Trine 42-26 in the paint to help overcome a 7-of-27 (26 percent) effort from three-point range. The Dutch shot 41 percent (29-of-70) overall.
Myles Copeland (Toledo, Ohio / St. John's) notched his second career double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for Trine. Four of Copeland's rebounds came on the offensive end. Will Dixon (Indianapolis, Ind. / Zionsville) scored 15 points and dished out a team-high seven assists. Adison Daub (Corunna, Ind. / DeKalb) also reached double-figures with 14 points and knocked down four threes.
The Thunder shot 42 percent (27-of-65) from the field, including a 12-of-26 (46 percent) effort from three-point range. Trine hit 8-of-12 threes (67 percent) in the first half to key a 41-34 halftime lead. The Thunder lead the MIAA and rank fourth in the nation in three-point field goal percentage.
Trine will host Alma this Saturday, Feb. 11 at 3 p.m. as part of the Hoopla Community Day basketball doubleheader in Hershey Hall. The event features free admission and giveaways for fans. For more information on Hoopla Community Day, visit THIS PAGE.