KERRVILLE, Texas – Trinity University Men's Basketball overpowered Schreiner University, 91-88, in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play Wednesday night as both squads combined for 58 three-point attempts, leading to junior Tanner Brown's (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) season-high 24 points.
 
The Tigers (15-5, 8-3 SCAC) led by as many as 12 points, though that margin was logged less than three minutes from the opening tip. The Mountaineers (10-10, 4-7 SCAC) worked back into the contest to log the first lead change of the game two seconds prior to half with the 43-42 midpoint tally in favor of the host.
 
Brown was one of four Trinity players to score in double-digits, followed by sophomore Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave)—with 14 points via four made threes of his own—and seniors Kaleb Jenkins (New Orleans, La. / Metairie Park) and Ben Hanley (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) at 11 points apiece.
 
Senior AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) collected nine points—all in the second half—as he led the Tigers with six assists and three steals, falling one rebound shy of sophomore Braxton Barry's (Houston, Texas / Westbury Christian) team-high eight boards for the contest.
 
Trinity Men's Basketball will travel to Colorado College Sunday, then return to host the remainder of the current 2022-23 schedule, including the 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship tournament, February 24-26.
 
The Rundown
 
Trinity forced a timeout less than two minutes in as a pair of Mountaineer turnovers led to a fastbreak bucket from Harvey and an open three-pointer from the top of the key by Brown were logged immediately after the tip. The duo extended to the eventual 14-2 run through the first three minutes though three straight Mountaineer threes brought the game back to 14-11 heading into the first media timeout.
 
Barry improved to three-for-three inside early as the Tigers worked back to a six-point advantage, 21-15, into the second scheduled stoppage at 11:58. Schreiner aided in the Trinity advantage with a one-for-six clip from the free throw line over three consecutive possessions.
 
Perimeter shooting came back for both squads just past the halfway point as Brown found his second make from deep only to receive an immediate response from Schreiner's Darian Gibson. Senior Griffin Levine (Dallas, Texas / Yavneh) settled the mid-game three-point contest from the right wing two possessions later, 27-18 Trinity ahead of the third media break.
 
Back-to-back steals for the Mountaineers in the midcourt pulled the game back to just one point, 27-26, forcing the first called timeout for the Tigers at 6:34. Jenkins righted the ship immediately, taking the backcourt inbound and attacking an open lane, then continued his brief takeover with the Tigers' fifth three-pointer of the half, 34-29.
 
The Schreiner seniors, Bronson Evans and Alex Dehoyos, stepped in down the stretch for 10 combined points as the Mountaineers slipped in front with Evans at the free throw line, 43-42, for their first lead of the half with just two seconds before intermission.
 
With Brown already at 10 points in the first half, Harvey became the second into double-figures as his third long-range strike pulled Trinity back to within one, 50-49, after an early six-point deficit to start the latter half.
 
The Tigers regained the lead through the first four points of the night from Clark as his first two free throws tied and took the lead, then immediately logged a steal tallied his first field goal, nearly seven minutes elapsed in the second. Jenkins became the third Tiger into double-figures the next time down the floor with his second three-pointer, 62-56.
 
Brown reached the 20-point threshold through another pair of made threes and a three-point play as lead changes began to tally in rapid succession. A one-for-two trip to the line from Dehoyos was logged following Brown's and-one to knot things up once again, 74-74, with a Schreiner timeout at 5:24.
 
The outside strikes continued for the Tigers as Harvey matched Brown's four makes in the left corner just under the three-minute mark, only to have the San Antonio-native retake the game's lead from deep for an 86-80 margin with 90 seconds to play, now just one point away from his career-high of 25 points.
 
Hanley became the fourth and final double-digit scorer for the Tigers as he finished inside—a theme on the night for the fifth-year Tiger—to retain the six-point margin with less than a minute to go, which turned into a three possession lead the next time down with a Barry free throw, 89-82.
 
The Mountaineers' AJ Aungst levelled the three-point contest with his fifth three to keep the game alive for Schriener, 89-85, then beat the buzzer to best Brown with his sixth made three-pointer but the Tigers survived, 91-88.
 
Coach Speak
 
"Lots of shot-making in this one," Head Coach Jimmy Smith said. "We did a much better job of taking care of the ball and held our own on the boards against a good rebounding team. Really proud of the guys for sticking together and picking up a tough road win."

Up Next
 
Trinity Men's Basketball returns to San Antonio for the duration of the 2022-23 regular-season following Sunday's visit to Colorado College, hosting weekend back-to-backs over each of the next two weekends ahead of the 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship, also hosted by the Tigers.