LISLE, ILL.  --  The Trine University men's basketball team scored eight unanswered points in the final 34 seconds of overtime that ended with junior Nick Bowman (Angola, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) connecting on a three-pointer in the final seconds to send the Thunder to a 73-72 win against Benedictine (Ill.) University in Lisle, Ill.

Bowman led all players in scoring with a career-high 26 points on 11-of-23 shooting (47.8 percent) and was two-of-three (66.7 percent) from three-point range.  He also chipped in with five rebounds, four steals and five assists.  Junior Bryce Williams (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) was second in scoring with 14 points and sophomore Brent Cox (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) was third with 10 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds.

In overtime, Trine (3-0) trailed, 72-65, with 34 seconds remaining following a pair of Benedictine free-throws that capped a 9-2 scoring run by the Eagles to start the period.  A triple by Williams, followed by a jumper by freshman Emmanuel Mengnanglo (Cotonou, Benin/Amelia Academy) narrowed the gap to two points, 72-70, with under 10 seconds left.  The final five points were set up by two steals by Bowman, including his own last-second tre that put Trine out on top and completed the 8-0 run en route to the one-point victory, 73-72.

At the start of the game, the Thunder had a five-point lead in the first half after a three-pointer by junior Aiden Warzecha (Milford, Mich./Milford) at the 11:01 mark to make the score, 11-6.  Benedictine (0-1) later came back to even the contest at 13-13 and eventually took a slim 15-13 margin as part of a 9-2 run with a little over seven minutes to play in the half.  

Trine regained the lead as the seesaw battle continued and the Thunder got a little breathing room with a four-point advantage with 4:13 to go thanks to a triple by Bowman that made it a 21-17 ball game.  The Thunder led by as many as seven points in the final minutes, 26-19, after a three-pointer by Williams at the 1:50 mark.  Benedictine managed to widdle the Trine advantage to four points at the end of the period by scoring the only points in the final 1:50 as the two teams went into the locker rooms with a score of 26-22.

In the second half, the Eagles came out ahead in the scoring battle by a 41-37 margin for the final 20 minutes, but trailed for the majority of the frame.  A jumper by Bowman with just under 15 minutes to go in regulation gave Trine its largest lead of the game of 10 points, 40-30.  Benedictine fought back to tie the game, but could not take the lead.  The Eagles remained within striking distance, however, and eventually took a one-point lead, 54-53, at the 5:10 mark after two free-throws.  Trine quickly regained the lead and had a three-point advantage with 2:48 to go, 59-56, following a Bowman layup.

Back-to-back Benedictine layups put the Eagles back out in front by a point, 60-59, with 1:23 remaining.  The two teams then swapped leads until a three-point play by Benedictine gave the home team a 63-61 margin late.  After a timeout by Trine, and needing a bucket to tie, Bowman connected on a jumper just before time expired in regulation that knotted the teams at 63-63 to force overtime where Bowman connected on his second buzzer-beater and clinched a 73-72 victory.

Trine is scheduled to travel to Alma, Mich. for a matchup against Alma College next Thursday and will count as a non-conference game for both squads.  The game is set to start at 7:30 p.m.