SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity University men's basketball team remained undefeated with an 83-64 victory over the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Tuesday night.
The Tigers (5-0) held the Crusaders (2-2) to just two points over the final seven-plus minutes of the game to secure the win. Trinity snapped a three-game skid against UMHB with tonight's win, taking its first win in the series since the 2017-18 season.
Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) poured in 24 points on the strength of a 6-for-10 performance from three-point range, and an 8-for-12 overall shooting night.
Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) turned in an impressive double-double of 20 points and 15 rebounds, adding four assists and a pair of steals, and matching Harvey's 8-for-12 game from the field.
Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) came off the bench with 13 points that included a 3-for-5 game beyond the arc, while
Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) chipped in with six points and a team-best seven assists.
Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) added nine points to go with six assists and a team-leading four steals.
Tonight was also the end of a three-game home stand for the Tigers, who will begin Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play on the road this weekend.
The Rundown
Trinity began the game much how it finished, starting with 12 unanswered points over the first three-plus minutes. Harvey hit two of his six three-pointers during the stretch to account for half of the Tiger points during the run. The Crusaders settled in after that and cut the lead to just three (19-16) with a three-pointer of their own with just under 11 minutes left in the first half. The Tigers never lost the lead in the first half, but UMHB also never let the game get out of reach. The Crusaders closed the period with five straight points to make it a 35-33 Tiger advantage at the break.
Less than five minutes into the second half, the Tigers used a 9-1 run to push the lead back to double figures and regain control. The lead was 11 when UMHB tied things up with a run of its own, scoring 14 of the next 17 points to make it a 62-62 game with 7:02 remaining. From there on it was all Trinity as the Tigers put on a dazzling display on both offense and defense down the stretch. After the game was tied, Trinity scored 18 straight points to put the game out of reach with just 2:28 remaining. Green and Harvey combined for 11 of the 18 points during the stretch, including a dunk from Green that made it an 80-62 game.
Coach Speak
"Another really gutty performance by the guys tonight," said Head Coach
Jimmy Smith. "This team is so much fun to coach and I can't wait to see how much better we can get."
Up Next
Trinity begins SCAC play this weekend, beginning with a game at Southwestern University on Friday, December 1, at 5:30 p.m. The Tigers will face Texas Lutheran University on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. to close out the weekend's action.
