The Trine University men's basketball team lost to Calvin (Mich.) University, 78-71, in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association action at the MTI Center in Angola, Ind.

Senior Langston Johnson (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Central) led all players in scoring with 32 points on 10-of-19 shooting (52.6 percent) and was a perfect nine-of-nine from the free-throw line. Senior Maurice Hunter (Monroe, Mich./Monroe) recorded his third double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-tying high 14 rebounds to round out the top individual efforts.

Trine (13-9, 7-4 MIAA) got off to a quick start by scoring the first nine points of the game as part of a larger 11-2 run. Calvin (13-9, 7-4 MIAA) scored its first points on a pair of free-throws and didn't make its first field goal until the 13:09 minute mark. The Knights made basket was a three-pointer that made it a six-point game, 11-5.

Following the Calvin made triple, Langston Johnson connected on a three-pointer for Trine and started a 16-2 run, which ended with another tre by Langston Johnson, that increased the Thunder advantage to 20 points, 27-7, with just over eight minutes to go in the first half.

Trine went on to lead by as many as 24 points that included a 36-12 margin after a layup by sophomore Mitchell Geller (Huntington, Ind./Huntington North) at the 5:23 mark. After missing its first nine shots and were just three-of-21 (14.3 percent) from the floor in the first 16:25, Calvin ended the half shooting five-of-nine (55.6 percent) that included a string of 13 straight points, aided by back-to-back-to-back three-pointers during the run.

A jumper by Maurice Hunter put Trine ahead by 13 points, but the half ended with four more points by the Knights to complete an overall 17-2 scoring margin by Calvin in the final 5:23 of the first half to cut the Trine lead to single digits at the break, 38-29.

In the second half, Calvin shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) overall from the field, including 46.7 percent (seven-of-15) from three-point range and was 12-of-14 (85.7 percent) at the charity stripe. On the other side, Trine was held to 26.5 percent shooting (nine-of-34) and was just one-of-six from behind the arc (16.7 percent). The shooting difference led to the Knights outscoring the Thunder, 49-33, for the period which began with a jumper for the Knights to get to within seven points early, 38-31.

Trine then extended the margin back to double figures with one-of-two freebies by Hunter and then a bucket by Langston Johnson that made it a 41-31 game. The lead hovered around the 10-point margin for the next several minutes with a large lead of 12 points, 54-42, at the 12:37 mark after two free-throws by Langston Johnson.

Calvin then began to make its second rally with nine unanswered points to pull to within three points, 54-51, and later took its first lead of the game with just under seven minutes to go following a layup that made the score, 60-58. After three-of-four successful Trine free-throws, the Thunder regained the lead by a slim one-point margin, 61-60, with 5:50 left.

An ensuing triple by the Knights put the visitors ahead on the scoreboard for a final time and went on to lead by seven points multiple times to end the game, including the final score of 78-71 to complete the come-from-behind victory.

Trine will go on the road for its next two matchups starting with a trip to Olivet, Mich. to take on MIAA foe Olivet College on Saturday, Feb. 15. The game is set to tip-off at 3 p.m.