SAN ANTONIO – The Tiger men's basketball team finished off the Leslie Robinson Thanksgiving Classic with a decisive 82-62 victory over Hardin-Simmons University on Sunday afternoon.

Trinity improved to 4-0 this season with the win, while the Cowboys fell to 3-2 to start the season. The Tigers have won four straight meetings between the two schools, dating back to the 2017-18 season. After building a double-digit lead by halftime, Trinity extended the lead even more by shooting nearly 57% from the field in the second period.

Braxton Barry (Houston, Texas / Westbury Christian) notched a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds in just 23 minutes on the court. His 12 rebounds today are a season-best over the first four games of 2023-24, as well as the second-best total of his career.

Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) led the Tigers in scoring with 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while also pulling down six rebounds. Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) hit a pair of three-pointers on his way to a 15-point afternoon, while Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) made it four Trinity players in double figures with 11 points. Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) finished with eight points and both he and Brown also grabbed seven boards.

The Rundown
Despite the final tally, the two teams were battling for the lead through the first part of the first half of play. The Tigers got the early advantage by scoring 10 of the first 14 points, but Hardin-Simmons had the game tied 10-10 just under a minute later. The Cowboys later broke a 17-all tie with a basket at the 9:26 mark to take a slim lead, but that sparked a 10-2 run by the Tigers over the next several minutes. After HSU hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to just one with a little more than three minutes left in the half, Trinity began to turn the game in their favor for good. The Tigers outscored the Cowboys 11-1 after that and took a 38-27 lead into the locker room.

The break did nothing to slow down Trinity's offensive prowess as the Tigers pushed the lead to 18 points in the opening moments of the second period. Hardin-Simmons was able to reel the deficit back to 12 points with just under 10 minutes left in the game, but the visitors never got any closer the rest of the way. Trinity scored 12 of the next 15 points over a stretch of three-plus minutes to extend it to a 71-50 lead with 6:32 to play, effectively sealing the win.

Coach Speak
"Our mantra was 'I WILL REBOUND TODAY', and we did it," revealed Head Coach Jimmy Smith.

Up Next
Trinity will be back on the court on Tuesday night, hosting the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at 7:30 p.m.