SAN ANTONIO - Trinity University Men's Basketball dropped its first of two exhibition matchups on the 2021-22 docket with a 97-66 tally at the University of Texas-San Antonio in the UTSA Convocation Center.

The Tigers first line ran in stride with the Roadrunners in the early going Tuesday night, exchanging leads with their NCAA I counterparts all the way to a 15-14 advantage in the first seven minutes of action.

All of Trinity's first four buckets were collected by different players as the early see-saw played out. Sophomore guard Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) was the first to find the bottom of the net twice as he drained a corner three-pointer to regain a 12-10 advantage and momentarily silence the Rowdy crowd.

As the contest settled in, both squads started expanding rotations. Similar to Sunday's 89-81 season-opening victory over Sul Ross State University, Trinity unloaded 17 different Tigers onto the floor in the first half, 11 of which logged at least one field goal attempt during that time.

Brown and first-year guard Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) led the halftime scoring tally with six and five points, respectively, of Trinity's 30 points into the intermission. Senior forward David Nickell (Humble, Texas / Atascocita) made his presence felt down low with four points and a team-high four rebounds in just eight minutes on the floor.

In under six minutes of second-half action, senior guard Ben Hanley (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) had already eclipsed Brown's first-half mark by scoring all seven of his second-half total in that time. The Flower Mound, Texas product also rallied across the statsheet to tie Nickell with five rebounds and senior guard AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) with five assists through 30 minutes of play.

The Tigers rode out the remaining ten minutes unleashing the remainder of their active roster onto the court toward the eventual 97-66 final tally in favor of the Roadrunners.

Notable Numbers

Trinity concluded its bout with NCAA I competition having entered all 23 active Tigers into the contest to squeeze every ounce of experience to be gained in the matchup. Ten of those players logged multiple baskets and seven recorded double-digit minutes.

A notable deficit for the Tigers came at the charity stripe Tuesday night as the Roadrunners held a (25-8) advantage in free throw attempts for the game.

In the second half, Trinity maintained pace with UTSA in multiple statistical categories including advantages in field goal percentage (46.9-40.5) and bench points (36-24).

Coach Speak

"It was a cool experience for us to get to play against the biggest program in the city," Head Coach Jimmy Smith began. "I really appreciate UTSA giving us the opportunity to come and play. I feel confident in saying we won't see a bigger or more athletic team the rest of the season."

"Overall, I was pleased with our guys' effort," Smith transitioned. "I thought we competed hard and showed some flashes of what kind of team we can become. It was great to play another opponent this early in the season to learn more about ourselves and where we need to improve. UTSA is a first-class program and we look forward to supporting them the rest of the season."

Up Next

Trinity Men's Basketball returns to NCAA III competition this weekend with a trip to Abilene, Texas for a pair of in-region road contests. The Tigers will battle Hardin-Simmons University and McMurry University of the American Southwest Conference, Friday night and Saturday night respectively.

Following a weekend visit to Georgetown, Texas November 20-21, Trinity will host Birmingham-Southern College (AL) and Carleton College (MN) over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.