ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Adrian College men's basketball team is set to travel to Trine University on Wednesday to wrap up the first round of match ups between MIAA opponents before host Calvin University in a rematch on Saturday. After the two-game win streak in MIAA play with wins over Kalamazoo and Alma, the Bulldogs were hit with a tough schedule as they dropped the next three contests to Calvin, Hope, and Albion. Adrian has struggled this season holding a record of 3-14 on the year, but sits 2-4 in conference play to sixth sixth in the standings.

Despite the poor record, in conference play Adrian is leading the conference in scoring with 77.7 ppg. They sit second in field goal percentage (46.0%), first is assists per game (15.4), and third in blocks per game (3.9). The Bulldogs are led by Connor Pelham who is averaging 17.0 ppg followed by 15.1 from De'Ovion Price, and 10.8 from Kendall Chrismon. Pelham has controlled the glass as well averaging 7.7 rebounds per game followed by 6.6 from Andrew Larson. The Bulldogs are young this season as four freshman including Price, Larson, Chrismon, and Josh Rechsteiner average at least 15.0 minutes per game. Although the Bulldogs lack size, Pelham and Larson have combined for 41 blocks this season. Senior point guard Jalen Paul hasn't been scoring the most amount of points this season, but has racked up 6.4 assists per game as he looks to put himself in the record books for most in a single season.

Trine comes in with a 10-7 record on the season and is 3-3 in conference play. The Thunder's most surprising win came in an 80-37 blowout over Albion, but was later upset 57-55 to Alma at home. Trine has averaged only 62.0 ppg in conference while shooting 40.7%. The Thunder have only one scoring averaging double digits this season as All-American Nick Bowman is racking up 18.8 ppg.

The series between Adrian and Trine has been pretty even dating back to 2008 as the Bulldogs lead with 16 wins against 15 losses. The Thunder has won six out of the last ten matchups with the last victory for the Bulldogs comes in the MIAA Tournament Championship game where Adrian won 80-72 to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

Adrian and Calvin will have a rematch after playing each other at Calvin on January 15. Calvin hosted its Homecoming due to not having a football team, and came away with an 81-61 victory. Pelham led the Bulldogs with 13 points followed by a double-double from Larson with 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Knights out-rebounded the Bulldogs 55-44 in their last matchup and had five scorers in double digits for points.

Adrian and Trine will go to work on Wednesday, January 26 at 7:30 PM at the MTI Center in Angola, Ind. Calvin will then come to town on Saturday, January 29 at 3:00 PM for the MIAA rematch.