IRVING, Texas - Trinity University Men's Basketball overcame an urgent University of Dallas squad, and a 15-point second-half deficit, for a last-minute 80-78 victory on the road to conclude the 2022 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season.

The Tigers (21-4, 13-3 SCAC) faced stubborn competition from the Crusaders Sunday afternoon as Trinity's host aimed to play its way into the 2022 SCAC Championship tournament as the league's sixth seed.

Sophomore guard Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) once again put on a second-half show as he posted all of his 12 points in the latter 20 minutes of play to help the Tigers rally from a 15-point margin early on in the second half.

Senior guard AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) kept the floor from falling out from under the Trinity squad with a team-high 17 points, split evenly between both periods (nine in the first). The recent CoSIDA Academic All-District selection also notched a modest team-best of three assists, which was matched by two other Tigers, and six rebounds while shooting seven-of-12 from the floor.

First-year guard Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) paced the Trinity bench as the third Tiger to reach double-digits with 10 points.

Trinity Men's Basketball will set its sights on the upcoming SCAC tournament to be held on the campus of Austin College in Sherman, Texas next weekend. By virtue of its second-seed status, Trinity's first game will be played on Saturday, February 26.

The Rundown

The Tigers stumbled early in Sunday's action as they collectively posted five turnovers in the first three minutes which led to 15 giveaways in the first half. The struggle to maintain possession in the first 20 minutes surpassed the full-game totals from two of Trinity's three games prior.

Despite the turmoil in the turnovers column, the Tigers remained within two possessions for much of the first 10 minutes of play. Six Trinity players each posted one basket in that time, a three-pointer from junior forward Enzo Sechi (Houston, Texas / Memorial) representing the 13th point in the 18-13 tally that favored Dallas.

Trinity slipped into its first double-digit deficit with five-and-a-half to go in the first period but a successful and-one from Clark capped a brief 8-2 burst from the Tigers at the under-four media stoppage. The Crusaders responded with a 9-0 run of their own directly aferward which led to the 46-35 halftime margin.

The breaking point in Sunday's contest came with 16:14 to play in act two as Trinity stared down a 55-40 deficit. As it has been the case on a handful of occassions this season, it was at this time Brown logged some points as he finally got on the board with a pair of free throws ahead of the first media break of the latter half.

Harvey added his five second-half points in the 9-1 Trinity run that started on Brown's pair from the stripe as he knocked down his second deep ball en route to just a seven-point deficit going into the under-12 timeout.

Back-to-back threes from Clark and senior forward Jack Williams (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) thrust the Tigers back to a one-possession game just 90 seconds later. With nine-and-a-half to play, junior guard Griffin Levine (Dallas, Texas / Yavneh) added to the barrage from the perimeter to cap a 23-9 stretch for the Tigers that started with the 15-point deficit just seven minutes earlier.

With just over five minutes remaining, the Crusaders found themselves a nine-point advantage again. It was at this point that the rest of Brown's 12 second-half points started to show up. Six of Brown's 10 points in the last four-plus minutes of the contest came between a converted and-one and a transition three-pointer on either side of the under-four media timeout. Clark's 16th and 17th points immediately followed to bring the game to a 76-76 draw with less than three minutes to go.

Brown scored the last four points in Trinity's come-from-behind victory as a pair of free throws posted a 78-78 deadlock before a contested bucket inside gave the Tigers their 21st victory of the 2021-22 campaign.

Notable Numbers

• The Tigers held a lead for a combined 41 seconds of Sunday's SCAC regular-season finale: the final 41 seconds that ticked off the board following Brown's final score.
• Trinity concluded with a noticeable 36-10 advantage in bench scoring, 20-2 in the second half, as 15 Tigers rotated into Sunday's contest compared to Dallas's nine-man rotation.
• Sechi's 10-game double-digit scoring streak came to an end Sunday as the junior mustered nine points. In 24 games played, Sechi reached double-figures 21 times this season.

Coach Speak

"What a hard-fought win in a tough environment," Head Coach Jimmy Smith said. "I am really proud of these guys, they never quit. Winning 21 regular-season games is really hard to do."

Up Next

Trinity Men's Basketball heads north to Sherman, Texas to await the winner of third-seed Schreiner University and sixth-seed Southwestern University in the SCAC Championship semifinals on Saturday, February 26.