ANGOLA, IN - The Trine University men's basketball team continued its hot start and improved to 5-0 thanks to a 91-79 win against Olivet College in a non-conference matchup at the MTI Center in Angola, Ind.

In the first half, Trine (5-0) jumped out to an early 7-1 lead in the opening minutes and later increased that lead to 10 points with just under 11-and-a-half minutes to go in the half following a layup by junior Nate Carbaugh that made it a 16-6 game.

Olivet (0-6) came right back, however, with an ensuing 17-6 scoring run to take a slim one-point margin, 23-22, with 6:38 to go before halftime. Trine quickly regained the lead with a three-point play by junior Bryce Williams on the next Thunder offensive possession. The Comets then evened the score at 25-25 before Trine took the lead for good in the period on a layup by junior Nick Bowman with under five minutes on the clock.

The Thunder expanded upon its lead in the final minutes of the first stanza which grew to as many as six points multiple times, including following one-of-two free-throws by Bowman to end the scoring by both teams and resulted in a 38-32 advantage for the home team at the intermission.

Trine began the second half with back-to-back layups by Bowman and junior Mitchell Geller to put the Thunder back out ahead by double figures by a score of 42-32 at the 18:19 mark. Olivet wouldn't get any closer than eight points the rest of the way as Trine began to pull away for good that began with a triple by sophomore Christian Knox that made the score 52-41.

Later in the half, Bowman connected on a jumper that made it a 19-point game, 69-50, with 10:35 to go. Olivet then went on an 8-2 run to narrow the gap to 13 points, before a 9-0 ensuing run by Trine that ended in another layup by Bowman, put the Thunder ahead by a commanding 22 points, 80-58, with 7:08 to go in the game.

Olivet made one final late push and worked its way back to within 10 points with under a minute remaining by a score of 89-79. But the rally came a bit too late as two free-throws by Bowman were the final points scored by either team as Trine went on to post the 91-79 victory.

Trine shot 51.4 percent (36-of-70) as a team and was led in scoring by Bowman with 22 points on eight-of-14 shooting (57.1 percent) to go along with six rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Brent Cox was second with 14 points and had five boards.

Freshman Emmanuel Mengnanglo finished with 12 points with the addition of six rebounds and two blocked shots. Sophomore Connor Jones rounded out the high scorers with 11 points.

Trine is scheduled to travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. to take on Calvin University on Wednesday, Jan. 27 with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.