HOLLAND, MI - Sophomore Brent Cox scored a career-high 23 points and was one of two players to score 20 or more points in Trine University's men's basketball win against Hope College, 73-67, in Holland, MI.

Cox scored his game and career-high 23 points on 50.0 percent shooting (eight-of-16), aided by a seven-of-10 effort (70.0 percent) at the free-throw line. He also went on to grab a team-tying high six rebounds. Junior Nick Bowman was second in scoring with 21 points and junior Mitchell Geller was third with 11 points and tied Cox in rebounding with six boards.

Hope (4-4, 3-2 MIAA) jumped out to an early 5-2 lead to start the first half, but a three-pointer by junior Aiden Warzecha followed by a layup by Cox, put the Thunder ahead by two points, 7-5, at the 16:48 mark. Following a three-pointer on Hope's next offensive possession that regained the lead for the Flying Dutchmen, a Bowman layup swung the score back in favor of the road team and was the start of a 9-2 scoring run that ended in a triple by junior Bryce Williams to extend the Trine lead to six points, 16-10, with 12:25 to go in the half.

The lead grew to seven points shortly after the Willams three-pointer, when Bowman connected on a triple of his own with a little under 11 minutes left to make the score 21-14. The Thunder never trailed again in the half despite Hope battling back to tie the game at 23-23 at the 7:18 mark thanks to a 9-2 run. Trine later regained its seven-point advantage after a Geller layup made it a 34-27 ball game, but the Dutchmen hung around and kept the Thunder from pulling away as the two teams went into halftime with Trine leading by five points, 38-33.

Coming out of the break, Hope made it a one-possession game with a three-pointer to start the second half and later pulled ahead nearing the 15-and-a-half minute mark by a two-point edge, 45-43, following a three-point play. Trine then rattled off six straight points to retake the lead by a 49-45 margin. Leading by four points with under 10 minutes remaining in regulation, Hope made one last run at a possible upset with five unanswered points to grab a 56-55 lead with 7:18 remaining.

A pair of free-throws by Cox put Trine out in front again, 57-56, and would not end up trailing again the rest of the game. The lead remained two points for Trine with 5:32 to play when a 7-0 run by Thunder extended the lead to a more comfortable nine points, 67-58, with three-and-a-half minutes to go. The Dutchmen narrowed the gap to three points late, but got no closer as Trine put the game away at the charity stripe and went on to win by the final of 73-67.

Trine is scheduled to host Albion College next Saturday, Feb. 27 in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game at the MTI Center. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact Trine University Sports Information Director Jeff Hoedt by phone at (260) 665-4122 or by email at hoedtj@trine.edu.