SAN ANTONIO – Trinity University Men's Basketball continues Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action this weekend at Texas Lutheran University and Southwestern University Friday and Saturday for the back half of a four-game road stretch in league play.
The Tigers (11-4, 4-2 SCAC) picked up their first two true road victories of the 2022-23 campaign last weekend up north at University of Dallas, 75-69, and at Austin College, 82-67, and will look to even the season record in hostile environments in the visits to the Bulldogs (9-6, 4-2 SCAC) and the Pirates (5-10, 1-5 SCAC).
Trinity is on a six-game winning streak since the fall semester wrapped up in mid-December as it swept its contests in the 2022 Leslie Robinson Christmas Classic and its SCAC home-opening weekend with Schreiner University and Colorado College surrounding New Year's Day. The Tigers hold an average margin of victory over 12 points in their last six outings, including the 21-point win over University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 84-63, to conclude the holiday tournament.
SCAC Outlook: Trinity recovers from opening stumble in league play
Trinity is one of three squads with two losses in league play as the conference enters its final weekend of the first round-robin of the two-pass schedule format, alongside Texas Lutheran at 4-2 while Centenary College held a 5-1 record before falling, 54-50, at home to University of St. Thomas (13-2, 7-0 SCAC) Tuesday night.
Colorado College sit between the league-leading Celts and the group with two losses at 5-1 in league play as it dropped the first battle of SCAC Tigers in San Antonio on January 2. Schreiner currently sits on the cut line for the six-team league tournament championship in late February at 2-4.
Weekend Preview: at Texas Lutheran (Jan. 13), at Southwestern (Jan. 14)
Trinity continues to pace the SCAC in scoring offense (78.1 ppg), defensive rebounding (29.13 drpg), steals (10.4 spg) and in aggregate at the free throw line (16.1 made, 23.1 attempted per game). Nationally, the Tigers marks at the free throw line rank 17
th while the takeaways rank just outside the top-25 at 29
th.
Four players roll into Seguin Friday averaging double-digits in the scoring column this season, though only two have been active in the last five contests. Sophomore
Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) narrowly leads senior
AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) as the duo average 13.6 and 13.5 points per game, respectively.
During the current winning streak, Harvey has earned one SCAC Player of the Week honor and has logged three games with 19 or more points scored for a 17.5 per-game pace, shooting 53.7 percent from three-point range on 41 attempts in that span. The sophomore has also pitched in for the Tigers' ranking in steals with two takeaways in four-straight and five of the last six.
Clark has averaged 14 points per contest during the same stretch, but has added averages of 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and two steals to go with five total blocks. In the single-digit league wins over Colorado College and Dallas, the senior flexed his defensive prowess with four blocks and five steals between the two contests.
First-year
Zach Fenn (Covington, La. / Saint Paul's) continues to be a menace on the defensive end, ranking 25
th in NCAA III in steals this season (33) all of which have come from off the bench as he averages just over 11 minutes per game. Over the last six, the Tiger rookie has averaged 2.5 steals per contest.
Sophomore
Braxton Barry (Houston, Texas / Westbury Christian) earned his first career start last time out at Austin College as he served well inside with 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game over the last six, twice matching his career-high of nine points all while averaging less than 20 minutes in the current rotation.
On the Bulldogs: tied with Trinity in the SCAC standings this week, Texas Lutheran seeks to avenge a 68-65 loss suffered in Colorado Springs on Sunday after it defeated its travel partner, Southwestern, 66-56, on the road just after the New Year.
Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Trinity holds a narrow 12-10 series lead over the Bulldogs but has won four of the last five meetings with the last three all decided by one possession. In the Tigers' last two trips to Seguin, then-rookie
Abdullah Roberts (Houston, Texas / HCYA) turned in a contested last-second elbow jumper for a 51-50 knockout on the road (Jan. 30, 2021) while last season's visit saw
Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) convert a hard-fought and-one on a putback in the final seconds.
Texas Lutheran is led be the duo of senior forward Mason Green and junior guard Xavier Phillips. Green is the Bulldogs' leader off the glass at 7.4 rebounds per game this season while averaging 13 points. Phillips leads the scoring column at 14.5 points per contest, having reached double-digits in each of his last five, thrice reaching the 20-point plateau this season.
On the Pirates: Southwestern will battle Schreiner Friday night having suffered back-to-back losses in conference play, including a heartbreaking, 79-78, defeat in overtime at Colorado College on Friday.
Since the start of the 2009-10 season, Trinity holds a 16-11 record over the Pirates including three of the last four meetings, with last season's two matchups producing 85-65 and 92-73 victories for the Tigers.
Southwestern produced several breakout performances through its two contests in Calgaard Gym this season as a participant in the 2022 Leslie Robinson Christmas Classic. Six different Pirates logged double-digits in points as Southwestern split matchups with Geneva College (W, 70-69) and UW-Stevens Point (L, 82-72). Brock Luechtefeld and Leo Toussaint led the way as they scored 18 and 19 points in the respective matchups.
The Road Ahead
Trinity Men's Basketball returns to the Bell Center the following weekend to open the second cycle of SCAC action with Centenary (Jan. 20) and St. Thomas (Jan. 21), the first two of six home contests in the final eight of the 2022-23 regular season.
The Tigers host the 2023 SCAC Men's Basketball Championship tournament February 24-26 after rounding out the final four regular season contests prior at home.
