By Mark DeHaan

The Calvin men's basketball team traveled to Angola, Indiana, to face the Thunder of Trine University in a matchup of the top two teams in the MIAA standings on Wednesday evening.

The Knights entered with a 4-0 record in league play while Trine was 3-1.

The Thunder built up a double-digit lead on the Knights midway through the first half and did not look back. Opening the second half with a 13-0 run, Trine put Calvin into a deficit that was too big to overcome, and the Knights fell 62-47.

In the opening minutes, Calvin stayed with Trine as the Thunder took a 9-5 lead seven minutes in.

Over the next five minutes, Trine went on a 12-4 run to build a 21-9 advantage.

With 4:26 to go in the first half, a three from freshman Connor Vander Brug brought the score to 23-15, but that is as close as the Knights came the rest of the period, and Trine took a 29-18 lead at the break.

Calvin's 18 points was its lowest scoring half of the season. The Knights shot just 29.2% from the field while the Thunder hit 41.2% of their shots.

Unfortunately for the Knights, the deficit only grew after halftime. The Thunder opened up the second half with a 13-0 run, holding Calvin scoreless for nearly five minutes, to build a 42-18 advantage.

The Knights shooting then began to heat up, but Trine held its double-digit lead.

With 2:14 to go, junior Austin Parks hit a triple to cut Calvin's deficit to 55-42.

Free throws from Vander Brug moments later brought the score to 56-44, but the Knights resurgence proved to be too little, too late as Trine defeated Calvin by a final score of 62-47.

The Knights hits 35.3% of their field goals for the game and only 4-of-19 for 21.1% from three-point range. Trine shot 41.7% for the game, also out-rebounding Calvin 39-32.

Individually, Vander Brug led the Knights with 14 points. Sophomore Brad Visser added eight.

For Trine, Will Dixon scored 21 points, Jared Holmquist added 19 points and seven rebounds, and Tyler Good scored 15 points. Jake Bagley contributed five points and 14 rebounds.

"This year's conference is probably as congested as far as equality of teams as I've seen in my 19 years here," said head coach Kevin Vande Streek. "Losing is tough. It's hard to take, it's disappointing and all that, but we have to learn a few lessons and come back and play on Saturday."

The loss for Calvin ties the Knights and Thunder atop the MIAA at 4-1 each in league play. Both teams also move to 11-5 overall.

Calvin now looks forward to Saturday when it welcomes Olivet College to Van Noord Arena. The Knights and Comets will tip-off at 3 p.m.