SAN ANTONIO –Trinity University Men's Basketball will visit Schreiner University Wednesday night, followed by Colorado College Sunday afternoon for the final road contests of 2022-23 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play.
 
The Tigers (14-5, 7-3 SCAC) currently sit second in the league standings as they prepare for the Mountaineers (10-9, 4-6 SCAC) and the black-and-yellow Tigers (8-11, 5-5) who both sit just inside the cut line for the 2023 SCAC Championship tournament February 24-26 in San Antonio.
 
On hiatus since January 21, Trinity will look to avenge its eight-point defeat at the hands of league-leader No. 11 University of St. Thomas (19-2, 12-0 SCAC) which ended a nine-game winning streak that begin with the 2022 Leslie Robinson Christmas Classic in late December.
 
Currently in possession of the SCAC's second seed and a critical first-round bye in the conference tournament, the Tigers defeated Centenary College (14-6, 8-4 SCAC) handily, 80-59, January 20 to even the season series. Trinity's advantage over the Gents in the league standings to this point was aided by a 68-54 Schreiner victory over Centenary the next night.
 
Trinity Men's Basketball will return to San Antonio February 10 for the first of four straight home SCAC contests to conclude the 2022-23 regular season, followed by its hosting duty for the 2023 SCAC Men's Basketball Championship.
 
Preview: at Schreiner (Feb. 1), at Colorado College (Feb. 5)
 
Trinity continues to get to the free throw line with national pace as its made the sixth-most charity shots per game this season (16.8) through the ninth-most attempts (23.6) in NCAA III.
 
Defense has been a primary focus for the Tigers so far as they rank 22^nd in NCAA III with 10.2 steals per game, collecting 17.1 turnovers per game this season which sits just outside the top 50 nationally. Trinity has also forced opponents into inefficiency through 40.6 percent from the field (61^st in NCAA III) and a measley 29.8 percent from three-point range (47^th).
 
Sophomore Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) has been a model shooter this season as he sits ninth in NCAA III with a 91.1 percent success rate from the line to go with the nation's 20^th-ranked percentage from beyond the arc at 44.3 percent, which has led to his slim team-lead in per-game scoring at 13.3 points.
 
"Slim" may perhaps be an understatement as the sophomore leads senior AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) in scoring average 13.33 to 13.26 this season. The fifth-year is the runaway leader for the Tigers at 3.4 assists per game and is tied with sophomore Braxton Barry (Houston, Texas / Westbury Christian) with six rebounds per outing.
 
Since earning his first collegiate start at Austin College on January 7, Barry has averaged nine rebounds per game, collecting career highs in boards and points with his 14-point, 16-rebound double-double at Texas Lutheran University (Jan. 13): the first of two double-digit efforts of the glass (Centenary, Jan. 20). Barry's performance in Seguin marked the most rebounds in a game for the Trinity program in nearly two decades, besting Clark's 15 boards from the 2021-22 visit to the Bulldogs.
 
First-year Zach Fenn (Covington, La. / Saint Paul's) continues to be the stealthy bandit for Trinity's stingy zone defense as he averages two steals per game this season which ranks inside the top 100 in NCAA III through just 11 minutes per appearance.
 
On the Mountaineers: If the SCAC tournament were to start today, Schreiner would be the last team in at 10-9, 4-6 in league play thus far. The Mountaineers also have not played since January 21 when they logged a key 68-54 victory over the current third seed, Centenary.
 
In this season's previous matchup, an 86-73 Trinity victory in San Antonio (Dec. 29), Schreiner found 22 points off the bench split evenly between seniors Alex Dehoyos and Bronson Evans—the only two double-digit scorers for the Mountaineers in that contest.
 
Kamden Ross—the only Schreiner player registering amongst NCAA III national rankings—was held to eight points though pulled down 17 rebounds in the first meeting for his current season-high and 20^th career double-digit performance off the glass.
 
Trinity's Head Coach Jimmy Smith will look to be 10-0 in his career in SCAC matchups between the Tigers and Mountaineers as he's guided Trinity to victory in the seven league meetings—regular-season and postseason—between the two programs since taking his current post in the spring of 2020. The other two victories for Smith came as Head Coach at Schreiner where he swept Trinity in league contests during the 2013-14 season.
 
On the other Tigers: Colorado College has an opportunity to solidify its footing in the race for the SCAC tournament this weekend as it hosts Schreiner Friday night at 8-11 overall, 5-5 in the conference ahead of Sunday's rematch of SCAC Tigers.
 
In both team's first contest of 2023, Trinity took the upper hand, 64-58, in a scratch-and-claw defensive bout, with only two double-digit scoring games: Clark (10) and Colorado College's Scott Ruegg (12). Ruegg registers just outside the top 50 in NCAA III this season with his 39.3 percent clip from beyond the arc, though the maroon Tigers held the sophomore to just two-of-eight from deep on January 2.
 
Dinari Boykin stands alone atop Colorado College's scoring leaderboard at 15.6 points per game this season ahead of Ruegg's 12.4 whit just two single-digit performances on the season. Boykin's lowest scoring output of 2022-23: January 2 at Trinity.
 
Looking Ahead: Home Sweet Home
 
Trinity Men's Basketball will host the remainder of the current 2022-23 schedule as each of the final four SCAC regular-season contests will be played in Calgaard Gym, along with the 2023 SCAC Men's Basketball Championship tournament February 24-26.