SAN ANTONIO – The Tiger men's basketball team opened up the first of a four-game home stand in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play with an 83-73 win over the University of Dallas on Friday night.

Trinity improved to 16-6 overall and 9-4 in conference with the win, holding onto the third-place spot in the standings, but trailing Centenary College in second by just a half-game.

Dallas led for much of the first half of play, though the Tigers never trailed by more than the 7-0 start by the visiting team, and by the end of the period, Trinity clung to a 33-31 lead. The second half was a different story as the Tigers went on a dominating 20-3 run in less than five minutes of play to take command of the game with a 19-point lead.

Tanner Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) and AJ Clark (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) both finished with 18 points to lead a group of four players in double-figure scoring for the game. Brown knocked down 6-of-10 from the field and also led the Tigers with six rebounds and five assists. Clark connected on half of his eight shots and shot 9-for-12 at the foul line.

Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) combined 13 points with a team-leading five steals, while Ben Hanley (Flower Mound, Texas / Flower Mound) added 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting and recorded three steals.

Trinity finished with 17 total steals and forced 30 turnovers in the game, holding an 18-point margin (38-20) in points off of those miscues. The Tigers also used those turnovers to blitz Dallas for a 20-2 edge in fast break points for the game.

The Tigers close out the weekend by hosting Austin College tomorrow evening, then will host both Texas Lutheran University and Southwestern University in the final regular season games of the season next weekend.

The Rundown
Dallas opened the game with seven straight points after hitting three of its four shots less than two minutes into the contest, but that would prove to be the largest lead of the night for the visitors. Trinity quickly got five points back behind a three from Harvey that was followed almost immediately by him recording notching his first steal and first assist of the game on a fast break layup by Hanley. The lead was six for Dallas heading into the 16-minute mark when the Tigers scored eight unanswered points to take their first lead of the game. Neither team led by more than one possession for the rest of the period and the Tigers took a slim 33-31 into the locker room at halftime.

Trinity widened the lead to six with a couple of early baskets in the second half, then responded to a Dallas three-pointer by scoring 16 straight points to cap a 20-3 run that took less than five minutes off the clock. The Tigers led 53-34 at that point and controlled the game the rest of the night. Trinity still led by 19 after hitting Clark hit a pair of free throws that followed the under-eight media break (at 7:55). Dallas made its move with nine straight points from there, but it took nearly half of the remaining time off the clock to get there. 

The Tigers answered with four points in less than 30 seconds to push the lead back to 14 points (71-57) with 4:37 remaining. Dallas had the lead down to single digits just over a minute later, but Trinity's initial push in the second half held up as the Crusaders were unable to complete the comeback bid. The Tigers converted 10 of its 12 free throw attempts in the final two minutes to help seal the win.

Coach Speak
"I thought our pressure was phenomenal tonight," Head Coach Jimmy Smith said. "The guys played with great energy and activity."

Up Next
Trinity finishes off this weekend's schedule against Austin College tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. Following next weekend's final games of the regular season, the Tigers will also be the hosts of the SCAC Tournament, held February 24-26.