SAN ANTONIO – The 18th-ranked Tiger men's basketball team returns to the court for another weekend tournament, taking on Hamilton College (N.Y.) and LeTourneau University at Southwestern University's Paul Peak Classic.
Trinity (1-1) opened its season with a weekend split, earning a lopsided 83-48 win over SUNY-Fredonia in the first game of the year, then dropping a tough 63-78 matchup at 11th-ranked University of Rochester (N.Y.). The Tigers have also played in two exhibition games to start off the season, squaring off against NCAA I schools University of Texas-San Antonio and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
NCAA Rankings: D3hoops.com
Trinity was ranked 18th in the D3hoops.com preseason poll and the organization has not yet released an in-season update.
Preview: Paul Peak Classic (November 19-20)
Trinity will face Hamilton in the opening game of this weekend's tournament and it will be the first time the two teams have met in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference era (since 1991-92). Despite being a pair of Texas teams, Trinity and LeTourneau have met just once. The lone matchup between the two was in December of 1991, which resulted in a 78-65 win by the Tigers.
AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) leads Trinity in scoring with 12.0 points per game this season, as well as dishing out a team-best seven assists. Fellow senior
Ben Hanley (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) is the only other player averaging in double figures at 10.5 points/game on 9-of-13 shooting (.69.2%) from the field.
Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) and
Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) are in the lead early in the season with four three-point field goals each. Harvey holds a 19-18 edge in points scored over Brown in the first two games, though Brown leads the Tigers with 13 rebounds to go along with four steals.
Hamilton opened the season with a 107-59 win over SUNY-Old Westbury, which will be the only home game until the end of the month for the Continentals. LeTourneau scored a 92-87 overtime win over Texas College in its only official game so far this season, though the Yellowjackets played a pair of exhibition games against NCAA I schools Stephen F. Austin University and Sam Houston State University.
Looking Ahead: Sul Ross (Nov. 23) and Leslie Robinson Thanksgiving Classic (Nov. 26-27)
The Tigers will continue a rough stretch of five games in an eight-day span next week, beginning with another road game at Sul Ross University on Wednesday, November 23. Trinity will make its home debut for the 2022-23 season by hosting McMurry University and Hardin-Simmons University on November 25-26 in the Leslie Robinson Thanksgiving Classic.
