ALBION, Mich. – The Trine University men's basketball team recorded a come-from-behind victory on Tuesday night at Albion College 71-63 after falling behind by eight points with less than eight minutes remaining. The win allows the Thunder to jump ahead of Albion in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) standings, placing Trine third.

The Thunder (13-7, 6-3 MIAA) scored 43 second half points en route to the win and won the turnover battle 18-8. The Britons (10-10, 6-3 MIAA) were able to take the rebounding edge 46-34, but were outscored inside 40-34.

The first half was tight the duration of the period, with neither team taking more than a five-point lead. Albion claimed an 8-3 advantage before the Thunder took a timeout to regroup five minutes in.

Six consecutive points for Trine was capped off by a Nick Bowman [Angola, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern] turnaround jumper that gave the Thunder their first lead of the game, 9-8. The Trine defense prevented the Britons from making a field goal from the 11-minute mark down to the 8-minute mark, but trips to the free throw line allowed Albion to regain a 16-15 lead.

A 9-2 Briton scoring spurt gave the home team a four-point lead, but Trine countered with eight straight points. Bryce Williams [Archbold, Ohio / Archbold] was true on a pair of attempts from behind the three-point line and Aiden Warzecha [Milford, Mich. / Milford] made a jumper in between. An Emmanuel Megnanglo [Cotonou, Benin / Amelia Academy] make gave Trine their largest lead of the half, 27-23. Albion beat the halftime buzzer with a made basket that put the score at 28-27.

Warzecha and Bowman each knocked down three-point field goals on the first two possessions of the second half, but the Britons countered with points on their first five possessions to take a 38-34 edge.  Mitchell Geller [Huntington, Ind. / Huntington North] found his stride offensively with a pair of lay-ups to give him a team-high nine points.

Albion kept pounding the ball inside and got out to their largest lead of the game 50-42 before Hayden Jones [Kendallville, Ind. / East Noble] knocked down a jump shot from just inside the free throw line that forced a Briton timeout with just under 10 minutes to go.

Bowman picked the pocket of an Albion player and took it the other way for one of his signature dunks. This would be the spark that would ignite the fire for the Trine offense. Bowman would go on to score 10 of the next 12 points with Geller soaring for a dunk as well to tie the game at 56 with less than five minutes to play.

The trio of Williams, Bowman and Warzecha made five of six free throws down the stretch and a make by Megnanglo from the field made the score 63-60 at the 1:58 mark. Geller received a pass from Williams and finished inside for an and-one to go up two possessions. On the other end of the floor, the Britons countered with an and-one of their own to stay within striking distance.

Trine got a stop with 47 seconds left and had possession of the ball coming out of a timeout with an opportunity to go up two scores. After using the entirety of the shot clock, it was Geller once again laying it in for two to go up 68-63. Warzecha and Geller iced the game at the free throw line to give the Thunder their largest lead of the game at the conclusion 71-63.

Four Trine players reached double figures, led by Bowman with 21 points. Geller scored 17 points while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds. Defensively, the Thunder held Albion to just two makes out of 12 from three.

The road trip continues this week for the Trine men on Saturday, February 5 at Alma College for a 3 pm tip-off. The Thunder look for revenge after dropping the first game of the series at home to the Scots.