GEORGETOWN, Texas - Trinity University Men's Basketball scored its fifth-straight regular-season victory to open the 2021-22 season with a thorough 95-62 performance against University of Texas-Dallas, hosted by Southwestern University.

The Tigers (5-0) were paced by senior guard AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) who led Trinity with 15 points and improved his team-leading effort off the glass in Saturday's 95-82 victory over Concordia University with nine rebounds, a column on the statsheet he shared with junior forward Enzo Sechi (Houston, Texas / Taylor).

Guards sophomore Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis), junior Kaleb Jenkins (New Orleans, La. / MP Country Day) and first-year Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) all joined Clark in double-digits with 14, 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Trinity Men's Basketball returns to Calgaard Gym Friday to host the Leslie Robinson Thanksgiving Classic. The Tigers will battle Birmingham-Southern College (AL) on Black Friday followed by Carleton College (MN) Saturday, both contests scheduled for a 4 p.m. CT tip-off.

The Rundown

A brief feeling-out period ended in the game's final lead change less than four minutes into the contest as Clark buried the first of his three-for-four effort from beyond the arc for the 10-8 margin and spark a 10-0 run for the Tigers that lasted for over four minutes on the game clock.

Trinity's advantage dwindled to a one-possession game momentarily after the under-12 media break but a layup from sophomore forward Abdullah Roberts (Houston, Texas / HCYA) went unanswered en route to an 8-0 run over the next four-minute stretch.

The second unanswered streak for the Tigers ultimately led to a 22-6 advantage over a nine-minute span just before the intermission; Brown had seven of his 10 first-half points during the run, leading to the 39=25 halftime tally.

Within the first minute of act two, the Comets had found themselves trailing by just 10 points but in less than three minutes the Trinity margin doubled thanks to a 10-2 run fuelled by three-pointers from Clark and senior guard Ben Hanley (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound), 51-31.

Trinity's cushion hovered just below the 20-point mark for much of the second half until Brown initiated a game-ending 17-3 stretch over five of the remaining six minutes in the contest. Six of the Tigers' 17 points over that time came consecutively in a 30-second window from senior forward Mick Marquez (Anthem, Ariz / Anthem), giving Trinity its largest lead of the contest (33 points) at the conclusion.

Notable Numbers

The Tigers logged perhaps their most well-rounded performance through their first five outings as they:

shot 50 percent from beyond the arc on a season-high 26 attempts,
collected season-highs in rebounds (48) and assists (22),
notched a season-low 11 turnovers,
and marked a noticeable improvement at the free throw line with an 82.4 percent clip (14-for-17)

The transition game continued to be a primary factor for the Tigers as well, posting a 13-2 advantage in fastbreak points and a 17-5 advantage in points resulting from turnovers.

Coach Speak

"Probably the most complete team performance that I have been a part of in a really long time," Head Coach Jimmy Smith remarked. "I am so proud of the guys and how well they are playing together."

Up Next

Trinity Men's Basketball hosts Birmingham-Southern (AL) and Carleton (MN) for the Leslie Robinson Thanksgiving Classic Friday and Saturday over the holiday weekend.

The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule opens for the Tigers the following Saturday (Dec. 4) with a trip to Kerrville, Texas to visit Schreiner University.