SAN ANTONIO – Trinity's seventh-ranked men's basketball team earned a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend split with an 87-77 win over Centenary College (LA) on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers improved to 16-1 overall this season and 7-1 in conference play, while the Gents fell to 9-8 overall and 4-4 in SCAC. Trinity has won its last three home meetings in the series, and the home team has won each of the matchups between the two teams since 2019-20.

Trinity turned a one-point halftime lead into a double-digit margin early in the second half, then held off a late rally from Centenary to finish off the victory. The Tigers forced 20 turnovers in the game and had a six-point advantage in points off turnovers. Trinity also had a 14-point margin in points in the paint.

Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) led a group of four Tigers to score in double figures with 22 points, connecting on 6-of-14 from the field and 5-for-9 from three-point range. Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) hit six of his 11 shots on his way to 17 points, while also leading the team with eight rebounds and four assists.

Zach Fenn (Covington, La. / Saint Paul's) chipped in offensively with 10 points and also grabbed six rebounds to go with his team-leading three steals. Abdullah Roberts (Houston, Texas / HYCA) came off the bench with 16 points in 16 minutes, scoring 8-of-9 from the field and pulled down five boards. Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) swished a pair of threes and finished with eight total points, while Ty Williams (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) scored seven points in just eight minutes of action.

The Rundown

Both teams got off to a slow start and the game was tied 2-2 more than three minutes into the opening quarter. Williams and Harvey hit back-to-back three-pointers for Trinity, then Green scored consecutive buckets to give the Tigers a 12-7 margin just over five minutes into the game. The Gents came back to tie the game at 14-14 with a three-pointer as the game approached 13 minutes to go in the first half, but Williams hit another three just seconds later to put Trinity back in front.

Centenary took its first lead at the midway point of the half, finishing off a 5-0 run to ease in front 21-20. The teams traded leads for the next few possessions until the Gents strung together consecutive buckets from beyond the arc to take a 31-25 lead with 6:32 left until the break. Harvey broke up the streak with a three-ball of his own. The lead was still five with under five minutes to go when Trinity put together a 9-0 run to flip the momentum in its favor. Roberts had four points and two rebounds to lead the way, giving the Tigers a 40-36 lead with just 91 seconds to go. Centenary snapped the drought with a three-pointer in the final minute to make it just a 40-39 halftime margin for the Tigers.

Early in the second period, Trinity scored 11 unanswered points to turn a slim two-point lead into a 13-point advantage with just over three minutes gone by. Harvey nailed a pair of threes and tallied seven of the team's 11 points during the run that changed the entire game. The Gents spent the rest of the game chasing that deficit and never fully recovered. The lead was just eight with under 13 to play when the Tigers scored 10 of the next 14 points to push the lead back to 14 at the midway point of the final period.

The lead ballooned to 16 points with five minutes to go when Centenary made its move with seven straight points in a little more than a minute. The lead shrank to just six with two minutes to play, but the Tigers buckled down and held the visitors scoreless the rest of the way. Green added a bucket on the next Trinity possession, then Harvey hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

Coach Speak

"Great bounce-back win tonight," exclaimed Head Coach Jimmy Smith. "We had great contributions across the board. Very excited for our basketball alumni weekend next Friday and Saturday."

Up Next

The Tigers remain home for another weekend of SCAC action, beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, January 19, against Southwestern University. Trinity takes on Texas Lutheran University next Saturday at 4:00 p.m.