SEGUIN, Texas – The Tiger men's basketball team wrapped up its opening weekend of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play with a 70-60 victory over Texas Lutheran University on Saturday evening.
Trinity remained undefeated at 7-0 overall and now stands 2-0 in SCAC play. Texas Lutheran fell to 1-8 overall and 0-2 in conference. The Tigers improve to 17-10 against the Bulldogs, winning for the seventh time in the last eight meetings between the two schools.
The Tigers took the lead for the first time just a few minutes into the game and never looked back. The lead briefly touched double figures in the first half and Trinity led 30-22 at the break. The Bulldogs had the lead down to four midway through the second period, but Trinity quickly got the lead back to double figures to cruise to the win.
Braxton Barry (Houston, Texas / Westbury Christian) just missed a double-double as he scored eight points to go with a game-high 13 rebounds.
Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) knocked down 10-for-17 from the field to lead the team with 22 points, adding nine rebounds, three steals, and three blocks.
Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) was the only other Tiger starter in double figures, pairing 12 points with four rebounds, and hitting 3-of-7 from three-point range.
Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) chipped in with nine points and a pair of assists, while
Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) came off the bench with 10 points in 21 minutes.
Trinity will be off next weekend, then will return home for two more SCAC games on December 15-16, hosting Austin College and the University of Dallas.
The Rundown
Trinity missed its first three shots to give Texas Lutheran a short-lived 4-0 lead, but the Tigers put together a 16-2 run that began with 10 straight points to take the lead for good. Green and Harvey combined for 10 of the team's 16 points during that stretch, which ended with Trinity leading 16-6. The lead hovered between seven and 10 points for the next few minutes, but then a quick 5-0 spurt by Texas Lutheran cut it down to five for the first time after the Tigers took control. Green led Trinity to a strong finish to the half, though, turning an offensive rebound into second-chance points, then getting a steal and a fastbreak dunk with under a minute left in the half. TLU got the final basket in the waning seconds of the first period, but the Tigers still led by eight, 30-22.
The second half began with the home team Bulldogs scoring, but the Tigers scored five unanswered that included a pair of buckets by Green to push the lead back to double figures just over two minutes into the final period. TLU kept Trinity within striking distance and made its first run with back-to-back three-pointers to make it a 42-38 game with 10:30 still to play. The lead was still four with just over eight minutes to play when Brown knocked down back-to-back shots from distance, then Green got another steal and fastbreak bucket to make it a 12-point lead in less than two minutes. The lead swelled to 15 when Green's block on defense led to an and-one three-point play for Harvey on the other end. The Bulldogs hit a three in the closing seconds, but the 10-point deficit was as close as they got over the final seven-plus minutes.
Coach Speak
"Winning five games in eight days is so hard to do, particularly against the opponents we've played," said Head Coach
Jimmy Smith. "Couldn't be prouder of these guys!"
Up Next
After a much-deserved week of rest, the Tigers will return home to face off against Austin College on Friday, December 15, at 5:30 p.m. Trinity finishes the weekend Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. against Dallas.
