Late rally falls short as Trojans drop home matchup to Titans
Greg Gorham
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DEERFIELD, Ill. -- A 17-point advantage was chipped away to just four points, but the Trinity International Trojans were unable to get over the hump, falling in a CCAC showdown to the Indiana-South Bend Titans, 81-69, Wednesday night inside the Meyer Sports Complex. Junior Nate Ball collected a game-high 15 points and 15 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season, as three Trojans finished with double figures on the night.
The Trojans (3-15, 1-6 CCAC) held a slim lead throughout much of the opening minutes of the game, as Sam Salem knocked down a trey just eight seconds into the game to put TIU in front. After briefly trading the lead back and forth, Ball put the Trojans ahead 13-10 with a jumper at the 15:52 mark, and that three-point advantage would be TIU's largest lead of the night.
Indiana-South Bend (7-10, 3-4 CCAC) used a 17-0 run midway through the first half to turn what was a 16-14 Trojan lead into a 31-16 score in favor of the Titans. TIU would battle back from that deficit throughout most of the night, but would go into the break trailing IUSB by a 42-28 margin. Justin Peeples led the Trojans at the break with nine points, highlighted by a perfect 6-for-6 performance from the free throw line.
The Trinity rally began after Indiana-South Bend recorded their biggest lead of the night off a free throw from IUSB's Jordan Grant at the 13:59 mark. The shot put the Titans ahead 56-39, before a 14-1 run over just under four minutes of play suddenly made it a two-possession game. Amrine knocked down a pair of threes during the run, and recorded eight of the Trojans' 14 points over that stretch.
The Titans' Chris Beam answered with a layup on the following possession, and over the next few minutes, each TIU bucket was answered with a score from IUSB that kept the Trojans at bay. Jordan Jason's layup with 5:32 remaining put Indiana-South Bend back up double-digits at 71-60; the Trojans made one last rally, as Peeples knocked down a three and Amrine hit a layup on consecutive possessions to close the gap again to within two possessions at 71-65. The Titans closed the door again by connecting on free throw opportunities down the stretch, while TIU was unable to record a field goal over the last 2:23 of regulation.
Along with Ball's 15 points, Amrine finished in double figures with 14 points of his own on the night, including a trio of three-pointers. Peeples collected 12 points on the night as well.
The Trojans will travel south to face the Purdue-Calumet Peregrines over the weekend, and then return home again, when they face the Olivet Nazarene Tigers on Wednesday, January 22, at 7:30 p.m.
