The Alma College Men's Basketball team kicked off their four-game road trip on Wednesday with a visit to Trine University (IN). The trip to Angola proved to be a tough one, as the Scots fell to the Thunder 84-63.

Alma drops to 4-17 overall and 3-7 in the MIAA with the loss. Trine improves to 14-8 on the year and 7-4 in conference play with the victory.

"We played a solid first half and certainly were mentally ready to compete," said Alma Head Coach Sam Hargraves. "We shot well enough to win this game but turnovers really hurt us."

The Scots fell behind 6-2 to start the first half but quickly responded with a 7-0 run, capped by an Sr. F Isiah Law (Grand Haven/Grand Haven) jumper, to take the 9-6 lead at 16:27. Alma would put together another run, this time 5-0, at 10:07 to take the 19-13 advantage.

The rest of the half would be tight, with both teams exchanging leads throughout. So. F  DJ Beckman (Shelby/Shelby) sank a free throw with just 23 seconds remaining to tie the score at 33, but the Thunder would respond with a last-second layup to take the 35-33 lead into the locker rooms.

The unique statistic of the first half was that both teams shot 13-of-27 from the floor but Alma dropped in six triples compared to just one from Trine.

Beckman led all scorers with 18 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting including five three pointers.

Fr. G  Chase Fairchild (Rockford/Rockford) sank a three at 15:38 to tie the score at 47-47 early in the second half. The Thunder answered with a 6-0 run to take the 53-47 lead with just under 14 minutes to play.

Thine firmly took control of the second half after a 12-0 run put the Thunder up 81-59 with just over two minutes remaining. The home team never looked back and handed the Scots the 84-63 defeat at Hershey Hall.

Alma shot 23-of-47 (48.9%) from the floor and 9-of-19 (47.9%) from beyond the arc. The Scots held the 12-10 assist advantage but turned the ball over 14 times compared to just three by Trine.

Beckman recorded his sixth 20-plus point performance of the season, finishing with 24 on 8-of-10 shooting. So. G Scott Nikodemski (Rockford/Rockford) chipped in with nine points and six assists on Wednesday.

Jared Holmquist had a monster game for the Thunder, finishing with a career-high 28 points to go along with 10 boards.

The Scots travel to Hope College on Saturday, Feb. 15 for a game at 7:30 p.m.