SHERMAN, Texas - Trinity University Men's Basketball held on to score its second Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference road victory in as many games with an 89-80 margin over its host, Austin College, Friday night.

The Tigers (8-1, 2-0 SCAC) collected their third consecutive 20-point performance from sophomore guard Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis), just two points shy of tying his career-high 25 points against Carleton College in the Leslie Robinson Thanksgiving Classic.

Junior forward Enzo Sechi (Houston, Texas / Taylor) and senior guard Ben Hanley (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) paced the rebounding effort with eight apiece while both Tigers also landed in double-digits in the points column, 17 and 14 points, respectively. All three previously-mentioned also led the way with four assists as well. Senior guard AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) rounded out the double-digit efforts with 16 points.

Despite a tremendous start, including a 20-point margin within seven minutes, Trinity struggled to keep its grip on the ball in the second half to end the contest trailing the Kangaroos in turnovers (22-11) and offensive rebounds (11-20). The Tigers held on as they shot over 50 percent from the floor led by Brown and Hanley's combined 13-for-17 effort.

Trinity Men's Basketball heads east to battle Centenary College in Shreveport, Lousiana on Sunday afternoon.

The Rundown

Trinity found itself a 28-8 margin less than seven minutes into the contest. Eleven of those points represented nearly half of Brown's evening total, followed by seven points each from Clark and Sechi. The Tiger defense paved the way for the run as it forced three turnovers and stiffled the Austin College offense to just 21.4 percent shooting from the field.

A made free throw from sophomore guard Ashton Owens (Trinity, Ala. / West Morgan) represented the lone answer during the Kangaroos' 12-1 run that ensued immediately after the 20-point advantage which put the Tiger lead back in single-digits momentarily with 8:20 remaining in the first half.

As the early-season back-and-forth gamescript began to take shape again for Trinity, it deviated from the norm with a second first-half run of 13-4, capped by one of Brown's four three-pointers in the contest for an 18-point lead just before the four-minute mark. The margin was widdled to 12 with under a minute to play before intermission, 44-32 in favor of the Tigers.

Trinity ceded the remainder of Austin College's second run of the contest, 15-4, at the beginning of act two for a 46-39 margin 63 seconds after the break. The 'Roos collected three-straight three-balls to come within one possession, 50-48, over the 90 seconds directly after the previous streak.

Points came in the paint and at the charity stripe to preserve the Tigers' lead until first-year guard Jacob Harvey's (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) knocked down his lone three-pointer with 13 minutes remaining to push Trinity back to a seven-point margin.

The well ran dry for the Tigers over the next three minutes as the 'Roos took their first lead of the contest, 64-62, at the conclusion of a 7-1 skid. Brown immediately responded on the other end with his second-to-last bucket of the contest, his fourth from beyond the arc, just-past the halfway point in the final stanza to spark an 8-0 run and regain the Trinity lead for good.

A Clark three-pointer put Trinity back in a double-digit stranglehold with four-and-a-half to play as the Tigers cruised to their eighth victory of the season, second in SCAC road action.

Coach Speak

"Always tough to win on the road and this was no exception," Head Coach Jimmy Smith. "We got off to a great start but Austin did a great job forcing turnovers and getting second opportunities; I thought that got them back in the game. We know we have to clean that up moving forward but are very excited to pick up another conference road win."

Up Next

Trinity Men's Basketball rolls eastbound and down to Shreveport for the b-side of this weekend's SCAC road trip, a visit to Cenetary College. Tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT between the Tigers and Gents.

The Tigers return to San Antonio Tuesday to host the Leslie Robinson Christmas Classic. Two matchups with members of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association are on tap, with Alma College Tuesday evening before Calvin University Wednesday afternoon.