Trinity University Men's Basketball will play their first home games of the 2023-24 season as they take on Concordia University (TX) and Hardin-Simmons University in the Leslie Robinson Thanksgiving Classic. The Tigers will then turn around and play against No. 15 the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor in a midweek matchup.
The Tigers (2-0) picked up two wins in Georgetown against Whitman and No. 23 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Tigers showed themselves as a strong second-half team, scoring 94 of their 160 points in the last half of the game.
Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) led the way with 27 total points in the two games and
Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) cleaned up the boards with 15 total rebounds. The Tigers were also lock down on defense with 24 total steals and 39 forced turnovers. All in all, the Tigers were doing all the right things in the first two games of the season.
Preview - Leslie Robinson Thanksgiving Classic
The Tigers will host a four-team tournament that will include Hardin-Simmons, Concordia, and Colorado College. The Tigers will play against Concordia on November 25th at 3:00 PM and Hardin-Simmons on November 26th at 3:00 PM.
On the Concordia Tornadoes: The Tornadoes are 2-1 so far in the 2023 season. The Tornadoes opened the season with wins against Southwestern and Southwestern Adventist. However, the Tornadoes lost their most recent game against Schreiner by a score of 109-102. So far, Concordia is led by junior guard Donovan Stafford who is averaging 20.3 points per game on .455 shooting from behind the arc. Since 2009, the Tigers are 2-4 against the Tornadoes. However, the Tigers took the most recent matchup during the 2021-22 season by a score of 95-82.
On the Hardin-Simmons Cowboys: The Cowboys will be 2-1 when they enter Calgaard Gymnasium. The Cowboys picked up wins against Texas Lutheran and Schreiner but lost in the most recent game to St. Thomas. The Tigers are led by senior forward Will Bartoszek with 22.7 points per game and playing 113 of 120 total minutes this season. Look for the Tiger zone to give him issues as he is just 3 for his last 11 from three-point land. Since 2010, the Tigers are 4-3 against the Cowboys. The good news for the Tigers, though, is that they have taken the last three games including last season's 70-67 win.
Preview - Midweek Matchup
The Tigers will stay at home and play against the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor on Tuesday, November 28th at 7:30 PM.
On the No. 15 Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders: The 15th-ranked Crusaders are 2-1 in their season. The Crusaders have suffered the same fate as the other two squads on this list. The Crusaders won their first two games this season but fell to Texas Lutheran in a nail-biting 77-78 loss. Averaging 21.7 points per game this season, the Crusaders are led by senior guard Josiah Johnson. Johnson is averaging 10 more points per game this season than the next Crusader. The Tigers are 2-9 against the Crusaders since 2009. The last win for the Tigers came in the 2017-18 season. The Tigers and Crusaders have played three more times since then, and the Crusaders have taken all three.
Key To The Game
Get Hot From Behind The Arc: In their two wins, the Tigers paid homage to Leonardo Di Vinci with how many points they scored in the paint. However, the Tigers struggled from behind the arc, only shooting .278 percent so far. Look for Harvey and senior
Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) to get a hot hand and the Tiger offense to get into triple-digit scoring.
Looking Ahead - Early SCAC Opponents
After the Leslie Robinson Classic and their midweek matchup, the Tigers will travel to Georgetown to play against Southwestern on December 1st, and then the squad will head to Seguin to play against Texas Lutheran on December 2nd.
