KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team had a nationally-ranked MIAA team come to town in #20 Trine on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 14). The Hornets battled the whole way with the Thunder, holding a lead by as much as 14 in the first half. However, TU made a couple of plays and free throws down the stretch to hold off the KZOO upset by a score of 77-73.
Kalamazoo seized control early with the help of an 11-2 run that allowed the team to take a 21-9 lead at the 12:06 mark. The Hornets' lead increased to 14 four minutes later, but Trine started chipping into the deficit. The Thunder's 13-2 spurt saw the K lead shrink to three with 3:35 on the clock. A Josh Decker three and a JJ Stevens layups created some breathing room and allowed Kalamazoo to take a 36-31 lead into the locker room at the half. The Hornets were very balanced with their scoring in the first 20 minutes, as nine players made a bucket before halftime.
A couple of layups for K to begin the second half got the lead back to nine points. But, unfortunately, Trine captured the momentum by going on a 17-3 run in the next six minutes of game time. The Hornets stayed within striking distance the rest of the way, not allowing the deficit to get over seven points. Kalamazoo tied the game up at 60 at the 4:38 mark, setting things up for an exciting finish. The Thunder stretched their lead back out to seven with 23 seconds left, needing only to make free throws down the stretch to win. However, the following two times at the line, TU went one for two twice to open the door. Bobby Samples and Decker hit back-to-back threes as the deficit became only two with five seconds left. Then, Trine missed a free throw again, and Ty Horky went to the line for the Hornets being down three. After making the first one, Horky tried to intentionally miss the second one to get a last-second basket as less than two seconds remained. However, that bounce did not come for Kalamazoo, with the Thunder escaping for a close win.
Decker was the leading scorer for the Hornets with 18 points as he made four threes. Horky also contributed 12 points, with another eight players showing up in the box score. Caleb Caul was the leading rebounder with eight, and Addison Atwater collected a team-high three assists.
Rounding out the scoring for the Hornets was DJ Courtney (9), Stevens (9), Samples (6), Caul (5), Nicholas Olmeda (4), Trey Bolling (4), Gabriel Sharp (3), and Atwater (3). Kalamazoo shot the ball at a 51.9% (27-52) rate compared to Trine's 47.5% (28-59). The Hornets held a significant advantage from beyond the arc, making 43.5% (10-23) of their attempts, as the Thunder only had a 17.4% (4-23) percentage. TU ended up with more rebounds (34-31), steals (9-2), and blocks (2-0), with K collecting more assists (14-13).
Kalamazoo will continue MIAA play by going on the road to face Calvin on Wednesday (Jan. 18), beginning at 8 p.m.