SAN ANTONIO - Trinity University Men's Basketball completed the season sweep of Schreiner University in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action Tuesday night, 98-74, in the team's final home contest of the 2021-22 regular season.

The Tigers (20-4, 12-3 SCAC) clinched at least the second seed in the upcoming SCAC Championship tournament by way of its record against the Mountaineers on the season; the regular-season title still up for grabs dependant on the outcome of University of St. Thomas's bout with Colorado College on Saturday.

Senior guard AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) directed traffic on a historic clip Tuesday with 11 of Trinity's 24 assists, the third-highest team total in a single contest this season. Clark's individual total ranks in a tie for fourth in program history, placed him eighth all-time with 268 dimes for his career and made him the ninth Tiger to reach the 100-mark for a season.

Junior forward Enzo Sechi (Houston, Texas / Memorial) led a group of five Tigers in double-figures in the points column of Tuesday's box score with 19, followed by junior guard Kaleb Jenkins (New Orleans, La. / Metairie Park) and sophomore guard Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) with 16 and 13 points, respectively.

Senior forward Mick Marquez (Anthem, Ariz. / Anthem Prep) led a strong Tiger effort off the glass with 10 rebounds, six in the second half, to combine with 10 points for the first double-double of his career. Sechi and Jenkins fell in line behind the senior with nine and eight boards, respectively.

The Tigers shot over 50 percent from the field for the third time since the turn of the calendar, the 11th time this season, and shot over 80 percent from the free throw line for the third 50-and-80 team line this season.

Trinity Men's Basketball will travel to Irving, Texas to face University of Dallas on Sunday (Feb. 20) to conclude the 2021-22 regular season. The 2022 SCAC Championship tournament will be held on the campus of Austin College February 25-27 in Sherman, Texas.

The Rundown

A pair of Marquez finishes at the rim jump-started the Trinity offense to the tune of a 12-0 run over the first five minutes of Tuesday's action. During the stretch the Tigers forced a pair of Schreiner turnovers and rallied for open buckets through urgency in transition.

Trinity found its first double-digit advantage prior to the second media break as senior forward David Nickell (Humble, Texas / Atascocita) rose up in the paint for a lay-in as part of a 9-0 run capped by a fastbreak bucket from Brown from a swipe by senior guard Jordan Lippman (Austin, Texas / Round Rock) to make the score 21-5 in favor of the host.

The double-digit margin held for most of the remainder of the first period as the Tiger bench rotated in. After 20 minutes, first-year guard Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) had collected eight of his 10 points on the night, which tied Sechi's first-half effort to pace the scoring.

Trinity entered act two with a 43-33 advantage but saw the margin dwindle in the first 60 seconds to just two possessions for the first time since the early 12-0 rally. The first of three second-half deep balls for Jenkins halted the Mountaineers' comeback bid just before the 17-minute mark and within two minutes his second of the period put the Tigers back up by 12.

Marquez came back to bookend another 9-0 Trinity run around the midway point of the second stanza to log the first 20-point advantage of the outing, though it was shortlived until Brown posted back-to-back buckets in the paint before the final scheduled media stoppage.

The game's largest margin of 24 points was collected by Clark at the charity stripe with 90 seconds to go, then sealed with less than 30 seconds to go by senior forward Jack Williams (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands): the final points in the 98-74 tally.

Coach Speak

"What a great game for the seniors to go out on in Calgaard," Head Coach Jimmy Smith proclaimed. "We had contributions all over the board tonight; this is as well as we have played in a very long time."

"We feel we are being overlooked both regionally and nationally," Coach Smith continued. "We have a really good team and look forward to the opportunities that we have in front of us."

Up Next

Trinity Men's Basketball takes its next opportunity in Irving Sunday as the Tigers battle the Crusaders for the final regular-season contest of the 2021-22 campaign.

The 2022 SCAC Championship tournament awaits the Tigers in Sherman, Texas the following weekend.