CANTON, Ohio – The Trevecca Nazarene University men's basketball team (6-3, 3-0 Great Midwest) another road Great Midwest game at Malone University (5-4, 0-3 Great Midwest), 69-65, at Osborne Hall. The Trojans are 3-0 in the Great Midwest for the first time. The Trojans started 3-0 in the TranSouth in their transition year between the NAIA and NCAA Division II in 2011-2012.
The TNU win breaks a four game winning streak for the Pioneers in the series. Malone has a 10-3 advantage in the series and prior to today's win for Trevecca, Malone had won eight of the last nine in the series.
BREAKING IT DOWN
Trevecca opened the game on a 5-0 and added on to the lead, going up nine (11-1) with 15:17 remaining in the half. Jalen Page paced the Trojans with six points in the early solid start for the Purple and White. Malone spent the rest of the half cutting into the Trojan lead and eventually gained their first lead at 20-19 with 2:06 left in the opening period. The Pioneers used a 18-8 run to pull ahead, a run that saw six different Malone players score, none more than five points. Malone led 22-21 at the break.
The Pioneers pushed their lead to three with the first basket of the second half, but Trevecca rallied to go up three (29-26 17:02) with a 6-0 run. Malone marched back, going on a 7-0 run with take a four-point lead (29–33). It would equal their largest lead of the game. With 13:02 remaining, MU had a four point lead (36-32). It was then that Trevecca took control of the game with an 18-4 run that put the Trojans up ten (50-40) with 7:49 left in the game.
Jalen Page had 11 of the 18 points. As a team, the Trojans hit. 7-10 from the field and 4-5 from deep.
With 1:04 to go, Trevecca's lead reached its highest point at 13 (65-52) but the Pioneers were not ready to pack it in. The hosts got hot from three-point range going 4-4 down the stretch, cutting the Trojan lead to four at the buzzer for the final margin. Trevecca was able to hold on and prevailed, 69–65.
KEY PLAYERS
Two Trevecca players reached double figures in scoring, Jalen Page led the way with a double-double - 26 points ten rebounds. Page also led the team with four assists and stuffed the stat sheet with a steal and two blocks. He hit 8-14 from the field, 4-5 from three-point range, and 6-7 at the foul line. Jamal Cannady Jr. scored 19 and added three assists.
Jake Mulder scored eight with two key three-pointers. Tommy Gankhuyag added eight rebounds. Pete Lambesis added 10 rebounds and scored seven.
TEAM TIME
The Trojans shot 41.4% (24-58) from the field, 41.2% (7-17) from three-point range, and 77.8% (14-18) from the line while collecting 38 rebounds to 31 for Malone. .
UP NEXT
The Trojans welcomes Bryan College (6-4, 4-4 AAC) on Tuesday, December 19 at 2:00 PM for their last home game before Christmas Break. It will be just the second meeting all time, the first since the second season of Trevecca basketball. Bryan beat Trevecca 81-55 on December 15, 1969.
MORE ABOUT THE TREVECCA TROJANS
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