By Sports Information Student Assistant Caitlin Reynolds  

ANGOLA, Ind. - The Trine University men's basketball team gave it their all for their seniors in their final home game at Hershey Hall, but fell just short falling to Hope College by a score of 81-72. The loss drops the Thunder to 14-11 on the season and 7-7 in the MIAA. Trine will be the three seed in the MIAA Tournament and will make a return visit to Hope for a semi-final game.

Although the Thunder suffered a defeat, they still had tremendous support from the fans. In their largest crowd of the season, Hershey hall was filled with Thunder Nation supporters, cheering on the seniors in their final home game on Senior Day and Hoopla Community Day.

Senior Ian Jackson (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) scored the opening points of the game with a jumper, but Hope would answer back and quickly take the lead at 17:57. The two teams would go back-and-forth trading leads, until with 8:41 junior Todd Watkins (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Bernard) would make a layup to put the Thunder ahead by two. Hope would answer by hitting a three to take the lead for good.

The Thunder were out-shot in the first half by the Flying Dutchmen 14-of-25 compared to 12-of-26 for Trine.

With a score of 39-34 starting in the second half, freshman Jared Holmquist (Reed City, Mich./Reed City) would hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to three. Holmquist would put the Thunder down just one off a steal and a layup.. Hope would answer back however, and would push the lead to 15 with 11:49 to play.

Watkins would hit a jumper with 10:23 left to play to cut the lead to 11, and freshman Nick Tatu (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) sank a pair of three-pointers to cut the lead to seven with 9:29 to go.

Trine would cut the lead back down to two with a clutch three from senior Neil Smith (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) with 8:17 left to play. The two teams would again trade baskets, but despite the valiant effort, the Thunder would be unable to take a lead.

Holmquist and Watkins lead the Thunder with 16 points each, both were season-highs. Watkins shot 7-of-11 from the field while Holmquist hit 4-of-9. Holmquist also went 8-8 from the line, and led the Thunder with a game-high nine rebounds while Watkins grabbed four. Jackson added 10 points of his own, along with going 4-4 from the line and making four steals. Tatu would add 9 points, all from long range.

For the afternoon, Trine and Hope shot nearly identical number as the Thunder hit 24-of-52 from the floor while the Flying Dutchmen made 24-of-46. The difference came at the charity stripe as Hope converted 29-of-39 while Trine made 18-of-20.

Trine will head to Holland for a rematch on February 21 at 7:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the MIAA Championship game.