SEGUIN, Texas - Trinity University Men's Basketball made it back-to-back last-effort victories inside Texas Lutheran University's Memorial Gymnasium Saturday night to capture a 78-76 tally in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

The Tigers (16-3, 8-2 SCAC) were lifted to the win by sophomore guard Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) who bullied his way through the paint to notch an and-one with three seconds to play in the contest. Last season's 51-50 win over the Bulldogs (Jan. 30, 2021) came on a last-second jumper from sophomore forward Abdullah Roberts (Houston, Texas / HCYA).

Junior forward Enzo Sechi (Houston, Texas / Memorial) returned to the top of Trinity's scoring sheet Saturday with 19 points to mark his 16th double-digit performance through 18 games played this season.

Senior guard AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) joined Sechi and Brown (17) in double-figures against Texas Lutheran with 14 points to go along with a career-high 15 rebounds for his first double-double of the 2021-22 campaign.

Trinity Men's Basketball returns to San Antonio February 4 to host the first of five straight home SCAC contests against Austin College. Tip time with the Kangaroos is slated for 5:30 p.m.

The Rundown

The Tigers ceded an 8-0 run to their host over a two-minute stretch in the early going, which led Trinity to settle into a two-possession trail position for much of the contest as trading baskets became the gamescript.

Just before the under-four media break, junior guard Kaleb Jenkins (New Orleans, La. / Metairie Park) brought the contest to a one-point spread, 31-30, for the first time since his previous bucket notched a 15-15 draw before the 12-minute mark.

The Bulldogs strung together a 12-2 run over the next four minutes of action, interupted only by a pair of free throws from first-year guard Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) who else brought TLU's first double-digit advantage back to nine points going into intermission.

Just nine seconds into Act Two, Texas Lutheran found the bottom of the net from beyond the arc to mark its largest advantage of the game at 12 points, 46-34.

The largest spread of the contest was Brown's cue to go off, and he did with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, followed by a driving tip-in and a second long-range strike over the course of the next 90 seconds to suddenly bring the game back to a four-point deficit through his 8-0 solo effort.

The margin continued to hover within two-possessions until the halfway mark of the second period until senior guard Jordan Lippman (Austin, Texas / Round Rock) rose up for the put-back from a missed Sechi three-pointer to knot things up, 59-59.

The tension built through a three-minute scoring drought from the seven-minute to the four-minute mark of the final stanza. Soon after, Clark and Sechi scored on back-to-back possessions to mark Trinity's first lead, 72-70, since Brown's first bucket at 15:33 in the first.

With 25 seconds to go, Lippman fired from deep to grab a shortlived 75-73 margin that was erased by a TLU three on the opposite end. This set up Brown's driving and-one effort to seal the Tigers' eighth SCAC victory of the season.

Notable Numbers

• Clark's career-high 15 rebounds on Saturday is the most for a single Tiger in a game since Danny Rivara posted the same tally at home against University of Dallas on January 5, 2018, and the most in a road game since Ross Burt posted 15 boards at University of the South, Sewanee on Januray 6, 2006.
• Brown's 17 points marked his third-straight in double-digits and the most for him in a game since posting 21 points in the final of four-straight 20-point games at Centenary College on December 19.
• Sechi's 19 points marked the eighth time this season the junior forward has led Trinity's scoring effort, the fifth time outright. Clark's 14 points marked the 15th time this season three Tigers landed in double-digits.
• The Tigers out-rebounded Texas Lutheran 46-36, 10-4 on the offensive glass. Trinity has held the edge on the boards in two of the last three contests; a statistic it trailed as a unit in each of the first four games after the calendar turned to 2022.

Up Next

Trinity Men's Basketball hosts its next five SCAC contests, first with Austin College on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The remainder of the 2021-22 regular season is as follows:

Centenary; Feb. 5, 2 p.m.
Schreiner University; Feb. 8, 6 p.m.
Texas Lutheran; Feb. 9, 6 p.m.
Southwestern University; Feb. 12, 4 p.m.
at Dallas; Feb. 20, 1 p.m.