WASHINGTON, Pa. – The #15 Mary Washington Eagles dealt the Trine University men's basketball team its first loss of the season on Friday afternoon on day one of the Great Lakes Invitational. The Eagles started fast in the second half and took advantage of some Thunder shooting woes to take a commanding lead and held off a charge to take the win. Drew Panning led Trine with 15 points and 13 rebounds off the bench for his first career double double.
 
The Thunder got the jump in the first half with Danny Flood ending a two minute stalemate with a three pointer. He hooked up with Panning for an alley-oop dunk to push the lead to 5-0. The Eagles responded with a 19-4 run over the next four minutes to claim the lead. Trine clawed back with triples from Panning and Cade Brenner.  Jayden Bradshaw made a pair of free throws and Elias Lewis hit another long ball to fully take momentum. Brenner grabbed a steal and took it coast to coast to give Trine a 22-21 lead. UMW pulled away toward the end of the half and took a 38-32 lead into the locker room.
 
The Eagles kept the momentum going into the second half, opening on a 17-5 run to stretch their lead to 18. Trine fired back with a 9-0 run to keep things close. Jess Roller got the run going, and Jayden Bradshaw added three more, Panning stole a pass in the back court and got above the rim for a flush to punctate the rally. Mary Washington again stretched the lead to double digits, this time keeping the Thunder at bay as the Eagles answered nearly every made Thunder shot with one of their own. UMW would stretch the lead to 17 again before taking the win 72-57.
 
Trine closes out the Great Lakes Invitational tomorrow with a 1:00 p.m. contest against Marietta. The game will be the first matchup between the Thunder and Pioneers as well as Coach Jon VanderWal's first game against his old squad.