ANGOLA, Ind. – The Kalamazoo College men's basketball team continued MIAA play with a road game at #7 Trine on Wednesday (Feb. 14). Playing their second nationally-ranked opponent in a week, the Hornets fell to the Thunder 105-74. Heading into the final game of the regular season, K sits sixth in the MIAA standings and vies for a spot in the top six for the MIAA Tournament.
Kalamazoo held an early 8-7 lead over Trine at the 16:44 mark, but then TU went on a 15-3 run to lead 22-11. After the Hornets reduced the deficit to single digits, the Thunder gained an advantage by as much as 22 in the half before taking a 49-29 lead into the break.
Trine kept its foot on the pedal in the second half. Even though Kalamazoo got the deficit back down to 16, the Thunder responded and led by as much as 35 in the second half.
Kalamazoo shot 47.4% overall compared to Trine's 63.6%. The Hornets made 9 of 26 (34.6%) 3-pointers compared to the Thunder's 12 of 22 (54.5%). Kalamazoo went 11 of 14 (78.6%) from the free-throw line compared to Trine's 9 of 16 (56.3%). The Hornets had 31 rebounds compared to the Thunder's 33, while Kalamazoo had 17 assists on 27 made field goals.
Carter Bandemer scored a team-high 14 points after going 4 of 8 from beyond the arc. Lukas Broadsword nearly had a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Gabriel Sharp was inserted into the starting lineup and responded with 11 points, while Ty Horky had a team-high four assists.
Patrick Perez (8), Bobby Samples (6), Lucas Hanifan (5), Horky (4), Dougie Blackwood (4), JJ Stevens (4), Peyton TerMeer (3), Caleb Caul (2), and Connor Kouki (2) rounded out the Hornets' scoring.
Kalamazoo will finish conference play and the regular season with a home game against Adrian for senior day on Saturday (Feb. 17), beginning at 3 p.m.