Georgetown, Texas – The 18th-ranked Trinity men's basketball team opened up its part in the weekend's Paul Peak Classic Tournament, hosted by Southwestern University, with a 92-76 win over Hamilton College (N.Y.) on Saturday night.
The Tigers improved to 2-1 this season with the win, which also marked the most points scored in the young season for the team. Trinity shot better than 50% from the field for the game and was just shy of that mark from three-point range, hitting 11-of-23 (47.8%) from beyond the arc.
Ben Hanley (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) led four Trinity players in double figures with an 18-point night that featured 7-of-14 shooting, along with five rebounds and three assists.
Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) and
Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) were right on their teammate's heels with 17 points each in the game. The duo accounted for eight of the team's 11 three-pointers made in the game, with Harvey connecting on 5-of-7 and Brown making 3-for-6.
Trinity finishes the weekend tournament tomorrow evening by matching up against LeTourneau University at 5:00 p.m.
The Rundown
Despite the margin of victory in the end, Trinity actually fell behind 11-3 in the opening minutes as Hamilton drained back-to-back three-pointers to take its biggest lead of the game. The Tigers answered by scoring 10 of the next 12 points to tie things up 13-13 with just under 16 minutes left in the first period.
Hamilton didn't let Trinity to take the lead, though, and pushed its way to a six-point advantage less than two minutes later. Harvey hit back-to-back three-pointers to tie things up, but the Tigers were still unable to play with the lead.
After falling behind by six points again, Trinity finally pulled in front thanks to an 11-0 run that ended with Brown's three-point bucket with 7:58 left in the half. The defense also got going as it held Hamilton to just one field goal over a stretch of seven-plus minutes. The Tigers led by as many as nine points during that stretch, though Hamilton drew within three with 62 seconds left. Hanley scored the last three points of the period, giving Trinity a 46-40 lead at the break.
The second half began with Hamilton scoring on back-to-back possessions to knock the lead down to just two, but a three from Brown and a layup from Hanley took it back to a 51-44 advantage for the Tigers.
Trinity continued its hot shooting in the game, but couldn't pull away until a 7-0 spurt at the halfway point of the second period made it an 11-point lead (74-63). Hamilton never got closer than nine points the rest of the way as the Tigers pulled away in the end. Trinity ended any hopes of a late comeback by scoring seven unanswered points to take a 17-point lead with 1:18 left in the game.
Numbers to Note
Kaleb Jenkins (New Orleans, La. / Metairie Park) was Trinity's fourth player to reach double figures, scoring 13 points on 5-for-10 from the field.
AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) just missed double digits with his eight points, though he also led the team with eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
Abdullah Roberts (HCYA) came off the bench with seven points and seven rebounds to lead the Tiger reserves.
Coach Speak
"This was an awesome team win," exclaimed Head Coach
Jimmy Smith after the win. "Hamilton is a really good program with a very good team. It was huge for us to hold our own on the boards and win the turnover battle. Back at it tomorrow versus a very good LeTourneau team!"
Up Next
The Tigers will face off against LeTourneau University in the final game of the weekend, finishing up their involvement in the Paul Peak Classic with a 5:00 p.m. matchup.
