SAN ANTONIO - Trinity University Men's Basketball conluded the 2021 Leslie Robinson Christmas Classic with a resounding 88-71 victory over Calvin University (MI) Wednesday afternoon in Calgaard Gym.

The Tigers (10-2, 2-1 SCAC) continued their long-bench strategy from Tuesday night's 103-64 victory over Alma College as 21 players entered the contest, 16 of whom logged at least eight minutes of action.

Despite the heavy rotation, senior guard AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) managed to post a season-high 18 points to go with six rebounds, both categories he led all participants.

Fellow guards senior Ben Hanley (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) and junior Kaleb Jenkins (New Orleans, La. / Metairie Park Country Day) joined Clark in double-digits with 15 and 10 points, repsectively.

Trinity shot 68 percent from the field in the first half to drown out the Calvin offense for the 48-30 halftime advantage. By game's end, the Tigers posted 53.4 percent from the floor, led greatly by Clark and Hanley's combined 13-of-16 effort.

For the first time through 12 official contests, Trinity recorded a new starting five as senior forward David Nickell (Humble, Texas / Atascocita) drew the start down low in relief of junior forward Enzo Sechi (Houston, Texas / Taylor) who was inactive for Wednesday's action.

Trinity Men's Basketball remains in San Antonio to pay a visit to the McDermott Center across US-281, home to University of the Incarnate Word, for the Tigers' second scheduled exhibition matchup for the 2021-22 campaign. Tip-off against the Cardinals is set for 7 p.m. CT.

The Rundown

Trinity's 10th victory of the season was won in short bursts throughout Wedenesday's 40 minutes. Just after the 18-minute mark had passed, the Tigers collected an 8-0 run in 29 seconds powered by six of sophomore guard Tanner Brown's (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) eight points on the day. The 13-4 margin that resulted remained a nine-point advantage into the first media break.

The Tigers maintained at least a two-possession advantage through the first 12 minutes as 15 players made an appearance before the 13-minute mark on the clock. Substitutions for Trinity through the vast majority of the game, and the entirety of the first half, came in five-man shift changes.

The third wave returned late in the half to build the first double-digit advantage of the day, breaking the double-digit plateau on a long-range attempt from sophomore forward Abdullah Roberts (Houston, Texas / HCYA) for a 36-24 margin with just-over four minutes to play.

Roberts' three-ball came in the midst of an 11-0 burst capped by another from beyond the arc from first-year Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) for the Tigers' largest lead in the first half to that point. The 18-point margin at the intermission came via a pair of successful Clark free throws with four seconds left.

Clark notched Trinity's first 20-point advantage 13 seconds into the second stanza, moments before Hanley post the Tigers' largest lead for most of the second half, 54-30. The second and third shifts again kept pace, weathering a brief run from Calvin to maintain at least a 13-point cushion.

The first line returned to the floor to push to the game's largest spread of 27 points, 85-58, with five minutes to play on Jenkins' ninth point as he went end-to-end via his third steal.

A fourth line took the floor to round out the clock over the final 90 seconds to draw the matchup to a close.

Notable Numbers

Clark and Hanley each posted double-figures in just one period of Wednesday's matchup, each scoring 11 points in the first and second half, respectively.

Brown's streak of seven-straight games in double-digits came to an end Wednesday despite logging six points during the 30-second eruption at the beginning of the game.

The Tigers have shot over 50 percent from the field in eight of their last 10 games and combined for a 54.4 percent clip against its pair of opponents from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association in this week's Leslie Robinson Christmas Classic.

Coach Speak

"Great way to go into Christmas break," Head Coach Jimmy Smith proclaimed. "To win both of these games within a 24-hour period speaks a lot about the quality of depth that we have. I thought we played with great energy and did a phenomenal job on the boards."

Up Next

Trinity Men's Basketball battles the second NCAA I squad in the River City, Incarnate Word, next Thursday (Dec. 30) at 7 p.m. CT for its second exhibition contest of the 2021-22 campaign.

The Tigers return to Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play after the calendar turns to 2022, playing host to University of Dallas and Texas Lutheran University on the weekend of January 7.