BR-102 Trine University is the Angola, Indiana school trying to reign supreme as Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) men’s basketball champions. It wouldn’t surprise coach Brooks Miller if his Thunder team ends up doing just that.
“The guys are doing a pretty good job of understanding the task at hand every day,” he said. “They stay really focused on trying to get better. We’re very fortunate to have a mature group of guys. We have three seniors and then we have a junior in Jared Holmquist and Travis Malone who have been in the system for three years along with a transfer junior, Ben Syroka. We have a lot of maturity and a lot of experience.”
The momentum seems to be going in Trine’s direction in recent weeks, as they’ve jumped from BR-190 on new years day to BR-102 today. Their Heat Score of 90 is a great reflection of that.
“I think our record at this point of the season (15-6 overall, 8-2 in league) is a result of that,” Miller said. “I think they’re so unselfish. They understand their role definition as well as any team I’ve been a part of in any sport. They really share the basketball well. They understand what each other’s strengths are and they play off of those. More importantly, they know what their weaknesses are and what they need to improve on and stay away from. We do a really good job of communication with one another. We have great chemistry. Those things, especially, when we go on the road down the stretch will help us to continue have success.”
Sophomore guard Will Dixon and junior forward Jared Holmquist lead the team in scoring with 19.2 and 16.0 points per game, while senior forward Jake Bagley is the top rebounder at 4.3 boards a game.
“We can score a lot of different ways” Miller said. “I think what separates us from a lot of teams is we really try to take advantage of the mid-range game. We want a true motion offense. We get a lot of tight curls and a lot of screens in top for jump shots or pull ups off the dribble off a really good cut or a really good screen. That’s one unique thing we do offensively. Defensively, we do some things. We’re such a cohesive unit defensively. They all communicate well together. They fly around and rotate a lot and try to create turnovers at the half court.”
Miller won’t point out goals other than their main objective over the last weeks of the season.
“If we continue to get better every practice and play our game on Wednesday and Saturday, I think the sky could be the limit,” he said.
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