ANGOLA, IN The Trine University men's basketball team completed its first undefeated regular season in the school's NCAA Division III era with an 82-53 win against Albion College at the MTI Center.

With the win, the Thunder improve to 14-0 overall and finish a perfect 5-0 against conference opponents.

Trine had four players score in double figures against Albion led by sophomore Brent Cox with a game-tying high 19 points on eight-of-10 shooting (80.0 percent). He also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. Junior Nick Bowman was second in scoring with 15 points and sophomore Connor Jones was third with 14 points. Junior Mitchell Geller rounded out the high scorers with 11 points.

As a team, Trine shot 53.2 percent (33-of-62) for the game to Albion's 37.1 percent (23-of-62) shooting. The Thunder also had 25 assists to the Britons' 12 helpers. Three Trine players tallied five or more assists with Bowman and junior Aiden Warzecha both recording five assists and junior Bryce Williams having a game-high six assists.

Trine (14-0, 5-0 MIAA) never trailed in the game and led by four points, 10-6, early when the Thunder outscored Albion (8-3, 5-1 MIAA), 16-4, to lead by 16 points with 9:31 left to go in the first half following a layup by Bowman. The margin remained in double figures the rest of the way and later hit the 20-point mark with just under two minutes to go when Jones connected on a three-point play to make it a 42-22 ball game.

The Thunder led by as many as 21 points in the period thanks to another three-point play, this time by Warzecha, to make the score 45-24 en route to Trine boasting a 45-29 advantage at the intermission.
Leading by 22 points nearing the midway point of the second half, Trine went on a 10-2 scoring run to eclipse the 30-point margin for the first time in the contest with a score of 76-44 after a jumper by Geller with 7:24 left to play. The lead later increased to as many as 35 points, 82-47, when junior Reese McGinsie hit a triple at the 2:58 mark.

Albion scored the final six points of the game, but Trine had already secured the victory and went on to the final of 82-53.

Trine will next set its sights on the MIAA Tournament that begins on Tuesday, Mar. 2. The Thunder will host the game against an opponent yet to be announced at 7:30 p.m. at the MTI Center.