ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's basketball team opened the
Jon VanderWal era in dramatic fashion with a 74-73 win over Ohio Northern on Friday night in an instant classic inside the MTI Center. Senior
Danny Flood poured in 20 points to lead the Thunder (1-0) past the Polar Bears (0-1).
Three-point shooting was the name of the game for Trine; the Thunder connected on 12-24 long balls on the evening with Flood and
Cade Brenner making four each. Trailing 8-4, Brenner sparked the Thunder offense with a triple,
Jayden Bradshaw knocked in another on the next possession. A back-and-forth slugfest ensued. The next six possessions ended in scores, ONU took the lead on a converted and-one, Flood regained the lead with a jumper. Northern made a triple of their own but
Elisha Jones had the answer this time to tie it at 14. ONU scored in the paint on the next trip down the floor but it was once again
Danny Flood countering the Polar Bears, this time with his first long ball of the game to lead 17-16. Trine was able to build a 23-18 advantage behind a pair of
Logan McKenzie layups.
Turnovers on Trine's next four possessions evaporated the advantage, ONU held a 25-2 advantage in points off turnovers. Trine was able to minimize the damage with 12 threes to their guests' six. Flood and Jones each notched a triple to regain the lead in the closing minutes of the first half. The Polar Bears knotted the score at 33 with a three in the final minute.
Trine trailed for nearly all of the second half, including by eight at the under four minute media timeout. ONU started hot in the second half forcing an early timeout from Coach VanderWal's squad. The timeout proved valuable as Trine was able to quickly level the score at 45. ONU continued to apply pressure in the form of a full court press they ran most of the game. The guests regained control for most of the second half, leading by as many as eight and Trine was able to get within three.
ONU ultimately led 66-58 with 4:18 remaining. The Thunder then mounted a furious rally bolstered by triples from Flood and
Jayden Bradshaw. McKenzie started the rally with a made layup. He then collected a rebound off a block by Bradshaw, who knocked in the ensuing triple. Bradshaw was not done there, swatting away the Polar Bears next shot attempt. Flood cut ONU's six point lead in half with a triple from well beyond NBA-range.
Nate Tucker earned a trip to the free throw line and knocked in both shots as the deficit was now one.
Desperate for a stop, Brenner came up with a defensive rebound and then a put back lay in to give Trine it's first lead in 15 minutes of game time. The lead swapped three times over the final 1:15, Northern connected on four consecutive free throws to lead 73-70. Flood found Tucker who sunk a 10 foot baseline jumper to pull Trine within one. Northern turned the ball over in the Thunder's back court and set up Trine with a chance to win the game with 17 seconds remaining. Flood handled the ball in the front court, a screen from McKenzie got him into a mismatch with the Polar Bears big man. Flood was fouled and knocked in a pair of one and one free throws to give Trine the final 74-73 advantage.
Trine heads to the Windy City on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. matchup with Illinois Tech.
