ANGOLA — Forty minutes of NCAA Division III college basketball wasn’t quite enough to settle matters in Saturday night’s non-conference matchup between the Trine and Baldwin Wallace (Ohio) men.
The senior transfer guard from Marietta (Ohio)College took over in the extra period after being held off the scoreboard for the first 29:22. He made his presence felt in a big way in the final 10:38 of regulation and the five-minute period of bonus basketball to lead the Thunder to a 76-72 win over the Yellow Jackets.
On the night, Bradshaw — who came along when new Trine head coach Jon VanderWal left Marietta to take the Trine job last spring after former coach Brooks Miller departed to take the associate head coach job at Central Michigan — tallied 23 points, including a perfect 13-of-13 from the free-throw line.
This one had all the hallmarks of an early season game in the first half. Trine shot just 4-for-19 from beyond the arc in the first half and 27.5% from the field in the first half (11-40). Baldwin Wallace wasn’t much better, with 4-for-11 from 3 and 33.3% overall from the field overall at 7-for-21.
Trine led 27-23 at the break.
The Yellow Jackets rallied in the second half from a 60-53 deficit to force overtime, and then it was the Thunder prevailing 10-6 in the extra period.
Two other Thunder players hit double figures: Senior forward Logan McKenzie and senior guard Danny Flood, another Marietta transfer, both with 11.
Josh Byers led Baldwin Wallace with 15 points.
VanderWal was pleased to see his team pull out the win in front of a big Saturday night crowd at the MTI Center — but found much to work on for his team.
“I feel blessed and very fortunate that we got the win,” VanderWal said. “But I’m also frustrated with how we played that game.”
Early foul trouble plagued the Thunder, VanderWal said.
“We just offensively, got ourselves in such a funk in the first half by not executing our stuff,” VanderWal said. “When you get yourself in a funk, it’s hard to pull yourself out of it.”
The Thunder shot 20-for-28 from the charity stripe (71%). The Yellow Jackets shot just 13-for-25 (52%). So that was another key stat.
Bradshaw said he’s accustomed to being in those pressure situations with the game on the line.
“Good free-throw shooting is a big part of my game,” Bradshaw said. “I’m athletic and strong, so I’m going to get to the line a lot. I need to knock down those free throws.”
Trine is back in action this coming weekend when the Thunder travel to Washington and Jefferson University to play in the Great Lakes Invitational. Trine will take on NCAA Division III No. 15 Mary Washington on Friday and Marietta on Saturday.