ALBION, Mich. – Up 69-67 with just less than three minutes left in the game, the Albion men's basketball team looked in control against 2024 NCAA Tournament champion Trine after what was a valiant 37 minutes of tenacity and toughness.

Unfortunately for the Britons, Trine stole their thunder and outscored the home team 6-0 all on free throws in the final three minutes at Kresge Gymnasium.

During that stretch, Albion missed all four shot attempts and committed two turnovers.

It appeared the Thunder might run away with the game throughout parts of the first half, as they built a 15-point advantage with seven minutes left in the period.

However, the Britons maintained their composure and found themselves down five, 36-31, at the half courtesy of a 10-2 run with five different scorers.

Albion took their first lead since the early parts of the game on a fastbreak layup from Michael Umeh with 18 minutes left to make it 38-37.

The Britons' momentum grew from there.

In less than two minutes, they found themselves up seven, which turned out to be their largest lead of the contest.

Trine began to chip away at the advantage with eight consecutive points before both teams traded threes, with the Thunder holding a one-point lead, 50-49, with 14 minutes left.

Albion got timely points with layups from BJ Hunter and Dwayne Ray to keep themselves in the driver's seat. After a Trine layup with 11:33 left to tie it up at 53, the Britons went on a 5-0 run in the next three minutes while forcing key misses from the Thunder.

Trine knotted the game twice more before Albion took a four-point advantage with 5:51 left and maintained the lead until a Thunder layup at the 4:01 mark.

Malachi Hooser II made a free throw to tie it up again before Umeh's layup to make it 69-67.

Umeh had a monster game, with a game-high 18 points and 20 rebounds. It was the most rebounds in a game for a Briton since Albion Hall of Famer Brandon Crawford notched a program-record tying 21 against Trine (then known as Tri-State) in 2006.

Hooser (15), Kam Mayes (12) and Truman King (12) each scored in double figures. All four of King's points came on triples, while Mayes had a career-high seven assists.

Despite outrebounding the Thunder 47-29, Albion committed 21 turnovers and shot just 7-of-14 from the line.

First-year Trine head coach Jon VanderWal coached against Albion at Kresge Gymnasium for the first time in his storied 25-year coaching career. The 2001 graduate of Albion played four years under former Briton head coach Mike Turner while current head man Jody May was an assistant. VanderWal was a two-time All-MIAA selection while playing in 104 career games.

Up Next
The Britons will head to Grand Rapids to take on Calvin on Saturday, January 17. Tipoff is at 3 p.m.