ADRIAN, Mich. – The Trine University men's basketball team shook off a pesky Adrian College team this afternoon for a 71-66 win.
Jayden Bradshaw scored 24 points for Trine (16-5, 8-2 MIAA) who are 12-2 since a 4-3 start to the season. Adrian falls to 4-17 (1-9 MIAA). Trine clinches a home game in the MIAA Tournament with the win, though they control their own destiny for a regular season title and the #1 seed in the conference tournament.
Logan McKenzie added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Thunder, while Bradshaw and
Cade Brenner each had seven boards to help the Thunder dominate the glass 42-27.
The game was tight wire-to-wire, neither team led by more than eight. Trine led for most of the game with Adrian holding the lead sparingly but never for long.
Nate Tucker grabbed a 7-4 lead for the Thunder with a made three, it was one of two makes from beyond the arc on the day as Trine struggled from range.
Elisha Jones scored all six of his points in the middle portion of the first half, baskets from
Elias Lewis and
Paxton Crane helped Trine to it's largest lead of the day at 18-10. From there Adrian would claim a 25-20 lead that was quickly nullified by an 11-0 Thunder run.
Danny Flood added a triple and Trine scored two four times to lead 31-26 and take a 33-31 lead to the break.
Adrian had the answers to start the second half, quickly taking the lead and holding it for nearly seven minutes. A triple gave the hosts a 48-41 lead. Trine leveled the score over the next three minutes and
Drew Panning would give Trine the lead for good with a jumper with seven minutes left. Flood pushed the lead to five with a layup.
Jayden Bradshaw broke a 59-all tie and would score Trine's next 10 points. Six of the 10 came from the free throw line, twice pushing the lead to eight.
Nate Tucker extended his made free throw streak to 39 with a pair of makes with 11 seconds left.
Trine host Hope College on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in a crucial MIAA contest. A win moves Trine into the #2 spot in the conference standings, while a loss would require the Thunder to get help from conference foes to claim the regular season crown.
