Georgetown, Texas - The Concordia
University Tornados rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to
beat the Trinity University Tigers men 81-72 Sunday at the
Southwestern/Trinity Pre-Holiday Classic at Robertson Center.
Trinity (2-5) opened the event Saturday with a 59-45 win over
Schreiner University. Sunday's game was the first meeting between
Trinity and Concordia since the 2000-01 season, with the Tigers
winning 61-48 in a home game. During the SCAC era (since 1991-92),
Trinity is now 3-1 against Concordia.
Three Tigers scored in double figures, led by first-year forward
Heath Hopson of Lampasas, Texas (Lampasas), with 15 points.
Hopson shot 4-7 from the field and 2-4 in the 3-point range. He
also picked up a team-best nine rebounds, along with two steals and
a block. Junior forward Luke Caldarera of Houston (Katy Taylor)
scored 13 points, on 5-11 shooting. Caldarera accounted for five
rebounds and two assists, adding one block and one steal. Sophomore
guard Ryan Beall of Santa Barbara, Calif. (Dos Pueblos), rounded
out the double-figure scorers with 12 points (4-8 from the field),
four rebounds, and four assists.
Sophomore forward Gil Melchior of Luxembourg added nine points,
as did senior guard Michael Tobolowsky of Dallas (Greenhill
School). Senior guard Bart Taylor of San Antonio (St. Mary's Hall)
tied for the team lead in assists, with four, while scoring eight
points. Taylor shot 3-6 from the field, 2-4 beyond the arc.
Concordia (3-6) took a 10-0 lead in the first 4:30 of the
game. The Tigers tied the score at 28-28 at 4:51, outscoring the
Tornados 28-18. Trinity led for the rest of the half, and held a
41-32 advantage at halftime. The Tigers took the 12-point lead,
46-34, with 19:08 remaining in the game, but the Tornados whittled
it down to 55-55 at 11:48. the game was tied once more (56-56 at
10:58), and Trinity took a two point lead at 58-56 on two free
throws by Caldarera at 10:07. Caldarera gave the Tigers one more
lead, with a layup at 8:41. Concordia shot 58 percent in the second
half, to Trinity's 39 percent.
Brad Walker of Concordia led the game with 19 points and 11
rebounds. Reza Farahani and Larry Durand each scored 11 points.
The Tigers shot 44 percent in the game, to the Tornados' 47
percent. Concordia led 43-33 in rebounding, with a 15-9 advantage
in offensive boards.
Trinity returns home to host the Trinity-Southwestern Holiday
Classic Dec. 28-29 in Sams Gym.
