LAS VEGAS – The 22nd-ranked Tiger men's basketball team held on for a tough 84-83 win over Clark University (MA) at the D3hoops.com Classic at South Point Arena on Thursday night.

Trinity remained undefeated at 12-0 this season, while Clark dropped to 8-2 on the year with the loss. This was just the second meeting between the two schools and the first since the Tigers defeated the Cougars in 2000-01.

The Tigers led for most of the second half, but Clark rallied late to take the lead in the final minute. Trailing 83-81 with under 30 seconds remaining, Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) nailed a clutch three-pointer to put Trinity back in front. Outstanding defense over the final 20-plus seconds led to an off-balance shot at the buzzer, and the Tigers came away with the win. Harvey finished with a team-leading 21 points on the night, doing most of his damage at the foul line. He went 10-for-14 at the charity stripe and was also 3-for-6 from three-point range in the game.

Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) finished with 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds, adding three assists and three steals to his stat line. Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) connected on 5-of-9 from the field on his way to a 15-point night, dishing out four assists to lead the team. Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) came off the bench with 15 points in 19 minutes of court time, hitting 4-for-6 from the field and 6-of-7 at the line.

Trinity shot just under 41% from the field in the game, though the Tigers did hit nearly 45% from the floor in the critical second half. Trinity also had 34 points in the paint and 30 fastbreak points in the game, recording 10 total steals among the 16 turnovers forced in the game.

The Rundown
Trinity got off to a 7-2 lead in the early moments of the first half as Harvey mixed in a three-pointer among a basket and two free throws from Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) in the first 3:15 of the contest. Clark rallied quickly and tied things up and the teams then traded the lead back and forth until the midway point of the period. The Cougars hit consecutive three-pointers to take a 27-20 lead with just under nine minutes to go, then led by as many as eight just moments later.

The lead was still seven with less than five minutes to go before halftime, but Harvey and Green made back-to-back buckets to cut it to a one-possession game with under four left. After the Cougars scored with 3:20 left, Brown nailed a three-pointer and Grant Jacobs (New Braunfels, Texas / New Braunfels) tied things up at 37-37 on a putback with 2:34 remaining. Clark hit a three-pointer to reclaim the lead, but Harvey knocked down four straight free throws in the final two minutes to put Trinity back in front. Brown scored again with less than 30 seconds left and the Tigers took a 43-40 lead into the locker room. The Trinity defense held the Cougars to just one field goal over the final three minutes of the period.

The second half began with both teams with a flurry of scoring and the game was tied 48-48 after a little more than two minutes had elapsed. Green punctuated a 6-0 Tiger run with a fastbreak dunk that made it a 54-48 lead for Trinity. The Cougars kept pace with the Tigers by hitting 50% from the field in the second half – including 6-of-13 from three-point range. The lead was just one point with under 13 remaining in the game when Trinity scored eight consecutive points to take its biggest lead at 66-57 just two minutes later.

Trinity still led by seven after Balo knocked down a pair of foul shots with 6:20 to play, but the Cougars scored six of the next eight points to draw within two at 75-73 with under four minutes to play. After Green was fouled and hit both of his free throws, Clark drew a foul on a three-point shot and hit all three shots from the line to make it a 77-76 game. Although Harvey answered with a quick three-pointer to push the lead back to four, the Cougars answered with a three of their own with 2:57 to go.

Clark tied things up a minute later, then got a block on defense to get the ball back as the game approached the one-minute mark. The Cougars scored with just 68 seconds to play to take their first lead of the second half. After the Tigers called timeout, Brown's game-tying layup rolled all over the rim before falling off, and the two teams battled for the loose ball. Trinity had the possession arrow on the ensuing jump ball, which set up Harvey for his game-winning shot.  

Coach Speak
"We talked about this tournament being an NCAA tournament-type setup with the timing and teams that we are playing," said Head Coach Jimmy Smith. "Clark is a really good team and they really shot the ball well today. Our guys showed a lot of guts and poise tonight. We are going to try and get some rest and get ready for another battle tomorrow!"

Up Next
The Tigers will continue their part in the D3hoops.com Classic tomorrow, facing off against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (CA) at 4:00 p.m. (PT).