IRVING, Texas – Trinity University Men's Basketball went down to wire Friday night at University of Dallas as it came away victorious in its Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference road matchup, 75-69.
 
Senior Griffin Levine (Dallas, Texas / Yavneh) made this most of his de facto homecoming with a season-high 17 points, 14 of which came in the fast-paced first half in less than eight minutes on the floor.
 
Fellow senior AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) was true to reputation, leading the Tigers in rebounds (7), assists (4) and steals (4) while also recording Trinity's lone block on the defensive end.
 
Clark also managed to join Levine as one of four Tigers in double-figures Friday night with 16 points, followed by sophomores Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) and Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) with 12 points apiece.
 
Trinity Men's Basketball will remain on the road for Saturday's 6:00 p.m. matchup with Austin College, the second of a four-game SCAC road trip.
 
The Rundown
 
Those in attendance for Friday night's contest were treated to a track meet as the Tigers and Crusaders combined for 26 points in less than four minutes. Play in transition continued as the first media stoppage loomed for nearly three minutes before appearing at 13:06 on the scoreboard with a 16-16 draw.
 
The first stoppage marked a stark change of pace, which was slowed even further by the second stoppage just 90 seconds later, triggered by a foul that sent Dallas's Zac Olmsted to the free throw line for three attempts at 19-18 Trinity, which would turn into the first three points of a 14-5 run for the Crusaders, answered only by a pair of buckets from Levine.
 
Trinity's deficit ranged from five to nine points over a four-minute stretch until Levine returned for seven straight points, the bulk of a 11-0 run kickstarted by Harvey and finished with a made free throw from Clark. The late push propelled the Tigers to just a two-point deficit at the half, 42-40 Dallas.
 
The second half opened with an 8-2 stretch for Trinity, six points of which credited to junior Abdullah Roberts (Houston, Texas / HCYA). A finish inside from Dallas's Letrell Toussaint marked the beginning of an eight-minute, 11-second stretch with the game's margin within one possession to either side.
 
Clark picked-off a Johnny Olmsted pass with the Tigers up 60-58, found Levine on the outlet who drove the distance and dumped to Millhouse for the finish and the first two-possession lead for either team in over eight minutes. During the stretch, Clark accounted for seven of Trinity's 14 points to draw even with Levine for the team-lead at 14 points apiece with just-over seven minutes to go.
 
Five straight points from the Crusaders returned to the matchup to its back-and-forth programming with five-plus minutes to play, which lasted until another fast break finish from Millhouse created another four-point margin, 70-66, with 50 seconds to go to effectively clinch the matchup.
 
Coach Speak
 
"So many things to be excited about in this one," Head Coach Jimmy Smith opened. "Dallas is a well-coached team and had a good gameplan. I'm really proud of the guys for executing our adjustments and making plays at the end to seal the game."

Up Next
 
Trinity Men's Basketball concludes the first of back-to-back road weekends in league play with the Kangaroos Saturday evening. The four-game SCAC road trip concludes with stops to Texas Lutheran University (Jan. 13) and Southwestern University (Jan. 14).