Men’s Basketball Defeats Geneva  (3/20/08)
Trinity ended their season on a positive note with a 74-69 win over Geneva College (PA) in the final day of competition of the NCCAA National Tournament. The No. 6 Trolls were 2-1 in the tournament and ended in fifth place.
 
The game started out very evenly matched and after six minutes of play the score was tied 9-9. Over the next two minutes the Trolls took control on a 9-0 run. That charge was led by Will Bruinsma who hit two treys and had a steal that ended in a lay-up by Brad Martin. The team increased that led to as many as 13 points before Geneva closed to within four at the half, 36-32.
 
The Trolls came out cold to start the second period and did not score in the first four minutes of the half. By that time Geneva had taken a six point led. The Golden Tornados continued to hold the advantage through the next seven minutes.
 
With nine minutes to play Trinity tied the game 53-53 and the score stayed close for remaining time. At 1:05 Geneva hit a jumper to put them up 68-67. The Trolls quickly regained the lead as Kurt Gruppen nailed a three-pointer to make it 70-68. The team followed that with a good defensive stop and then hit four of six free throw attempts in the final 22 seconds to post the victory. 
 
For the game the team shot 43.1% from the floor and 70.8% from the line. Will Bruinsma led the scoring with 23 points. Ross Stuursma added 16 points, Kurt Gruppen had 14, and Kyle Lasek ended with 10. Jonathan Huizinga grabbed eight rebounds and Michael Thompson had four assists.
 
The Trolls ended the year at 23-13 overall, ranking them second in most wins in a season behind the 24-12 record of 1996-97.

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