GEORGETOWN, Texas - Trinity University Men's Basketball improved to four straight victories in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play Tuesday night in its 92-73 defeat of host Southwestern University.

The Tigers (15-3, 7-2 SCAC) clinched its seventh conference victory of the season through a breakout performance from senior guard Jordan Lippman (Austin, Texas / Round Rock) who scored nine of his team-high 14 points consecutively in the heart of the second half as the Tigers walked away from the Pirates. Lippman's scoring total on the evening came via a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor including pairs from beyond the arc and at the free throw line.

Trinity held a double-digit advantage for nearly 30 minutes of game time in the midweek road matchup thanks to an early scoring effort from junior forward Enzo Sechi (Houston, Texas / Memorial) who posted nine of his team-high 13 points in the first four minutes of play.

Sophomore guard Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) scored 10 of his 12 points in the second frame as well, six of which came in rapid-fire from beyond the arc to halt a brief Southwestern run.

The Tigers stay on the road Saturday to face Texas Lutheran University before hosting five consecutive SCAC matchups in a nine-day period starting on Friday, February 4 against Austin College.

The Rundown

Sechi got the ball rolling for the Tigers with seven points in the first four minutes which included a 9-2 Trinity run the first two-plus minutes. First-year guard Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) found the bottom of the net from beyond the arc just after the game's second media timeout which set the stage for Lippman to find the Tigers' first double-digit advantage of the contest from the free throw line with 10:35 to play.

A great feed into the paint by sophomore forward Abdullah Roberts (Houston, Texas / HCYA) led first-year forward Braxton Barry (Houston, Texas / Westbury Christian) to notch Trinity's largest first-half advantage of 15 points with three minutes to go in the first period. Four straight makes from the charity stripe by first-year guard Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) just two minutes prior set the previous high in the half of 14 points.

The Pirates momentarily snuck back into a single-digit deficit with 90 seconds left before intermission on back-to-back three-pointers before junior guard Kaleb Jenkins (New Orleans, La. / Metairie Park) continued the Tigers' success from the line with a clean pair with under a minute to go in the half.

Brown and Jenkins went back-to-back-to-back in consecutive possessions from long range to douse the first Southwestern spark at five straight points to open the second half. Sechi marked a new high with a 17-point spread moments later after both he and Brown eclipsed double-figures for the game.

The Pirates put together a 60-second 6-0 run around the 13-minute mark, though a strong put-back from senior forward David Nickell (Humble, Texas / Atascocita) silenced the momentum and sparked Trinity's own 14-3 stretch that survived a pair of extended timeouts. Nickell and Lippman powered the run with six points apiece and made the latter the third Tiger in double-digit points.

Lippman continued his takeover midway through the second half with a deep-ball for a second-half high nine points, then handed control of the scoring effort to senior forward Mick Marquez (Anthem, Ariz. / Anthem Prep) who collected the next six Trinity points to keep Southwestern's final comeback bid at bay despite the Pirates' crawl back within 20 points prior to the final scheduled stoppage.

Over the final few minutes of play, junior guard Griffin Levine (Dallas, Texas / Yanveh) jumped into the streaky scoring effort with eight straight points of his own including a pair from beyond the arc.

Notable Numbers

• Lippman's nine-point barrage in the second half sealed the 14th time this season that at least three Tigers landed in double-figures in a game, the eighth different Tiger this season to lead Trinity's offense in a game and his first double-digit performance since February 28, 2020, which was also the last time he led Trinity's scoring effort.
• The Tigers took full advantage of a 10-5 margin in team fouls in the first half as they went 10-of-11 from the free throw line, led by four-straight from Millhouse. Trinity added a pair of Levine free throws in the second half to end the game 12-of-13 from the stripe.
• Sechi's 13 points marked double-digit scoring for the junior forward in 16 of the Tigers' 18 games thus far.
• Trinity shot over 50 percent from the field (33-of-60) for the ninth time this season and hit double-digit three-pointers (12-of-31) for the seventh time.
• The rotational big-man duo of Nickell and Marquez combined for a perfect 7-of-7 Tuesday night during the second half push which improved their combined season field goal percentage to 63.8 percent (51-of-80).

Coach Speak

"We had a lot of positives in this game," Head Coach Jimmy Smith reflected. "I thought every guy played with great energy. I am really proud of how well we are sharing the ball with 27 assists on 33 field goals tonight."

Up Next

Trinity Men's Basketball heads to Seguin, Texas Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip with the Bulldogs of Texas Lutheran.

The Tigers then return to Calgaard Gym February 4 for five-straight in conference over nine days:

Austin College; Feb. 4, 5:30 p.m.
Centenary College; Feb. 5, 2 p.m.
Schreiner University; Feb. 8, 6 p.m.
Texas Lutheran; Feb. 9, 6 p.m.
Southwestern; Feb. 12, 4 p.m.