San Antonio - The Trinity men's basketball team lost a wild 71-70 home-opening game to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX) Sunday night.

GAME SUMMARY

Trinity held a 67-57 lead with just under six minutes remaining, but Mary Hardin-Baylor rallied with a 14-3 run to take a 71-70 lead with just 11.3 seconds left in the game.

Trailing by one (69-70) late in the game, the Cru drew a foul to set up a pair of free throws with 11.3 seconds left.  UMHB converted both to take the lead - the first lead of the game for the visiting team.

The Tigers drove for a potential game-winning layup in the final seconds, but the shot missed, and UMHB grabbed the rebound.  Trinity, however, forced a jump ball with 0.9 seconds left, and had one more shot at the win.  The last-ditch attempt missed, though, and the Cru escaped with the win.

Trinity shot 50% from the field in the opening half, taking a 38-25 lead at the intermission.  The Tigers opened up the game with a 17-6 advantage, then after UMHB closed to within nine, Trinity pushed the lead back to double figures to finish the period.

Mary Hardin-Baylor rallied early in the second half to cut the lead to just two points, but the Tigers surged ahead again with a run of their own to go up 60-48.  Just three minutes later, UMHB made its comeback run.

Trinity was also held scoreless over the final 3:22 of the game, missing its final six field goals, as well as missing a pair of free throws during that stretch.

NOTABLES

Trinity now stands at 2-3, while Mary Hardin-Baylor upped its record to 2-2.

Isaiah Specks came off the bench and scored a career-high 17 points. Specks shot 6-9 from the field, and made 2-3 shots beyond the arc.

Danny Rivara posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, while chalking up a game-high four steals.

Matt Jones contributed 12 points, and a game-leading five assists.

The Tigers bench was effective, outscoring The Cru 29-16. Mary Hardin-Baylor did lead 36-22 in points in the paint.

The two teams were about even in shooting, with Trinity going 43.1%, and Mary Hardin-Baylor hitting 44.3% of its shots.

UP NEXT

The Tigers travel to Austin, Texas, Tuesday, for an exhibition game with NCAA Division II member St. Edward's University, at 7:00 p.m.