COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The ninth-ranked Trinity University men's basketball team pulled away in the second half to earn an 84-69 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference road victory over Colorado College on Friday evening.
The Tigers improved to 15-0 this season overall and 6-0 in conference play, while Colorado College dropped to 6-6 overall and 2-3 in the SCAC. Trinity evened its road record in this series with tonight's wins, as the two teams have split 18 meetings in Colorado.
Both teams struggled to shoot from three-point range and both hovered near 40% shooting overall from the field. Trinity held a decisive edge with 14 steals among 23 turnovers forced as a team, leading 23-12 in points off of turnovers. Trinity also had a huge advantage in fastbreak points, outscoring the home team 29-4.
Ty Williams (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) came off the bench and scored a career-high 14 points to go with a career-best eight rebounds in his 16 minutes of action. He was second on the team in scoring and tied for the team lead in rebounds.
Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) led the way on offense with 23 points, adding six rebounds and a pair of steals.
Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) and
Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) dished out four assists each, while Harvey also finished with 13 points in the game. Millhouse also chipped in with seven points and three steals.
Zach Fenn (Covington, La. / Saint Paul's) finished just one steal short of his career-high tonight, coupling six steals with nine points in just 16 minutes.
Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) also added nine points, while
Braxton Barry (Houston, Texas / Westbury Christian) tied Williams for the team lead with eight boards.
The Rundown
Trinity fell behind early as Colorado College scored eight of the first 10 points of the game. The home team was up by seven when Fenn sparked a quick 5-0 spurt for the Tigers. He recorded back-to-back steals, laying in the first for a fastbreak bucket. Fenn then got the ball again seconds later, leading to a three-pointer from Harvey to cut the lead to just 12-10 with under 14 to go in the first half.
The teams traded six-point runs after that, but Colorado College was able to stay in the lead until Williams dropped in a fastbreak layup to knot things up at 20-all. He scored seven straight Trinity points to give his team a 25-22 lead with under seven minutes left in the first period. The lead didn't last long, though Trinity didn't fall behind the rest of the half. Colorado College tied things up 33-33 at the three-minute mark, but Green scored on Trinity's next possession to break the tie. Williams added four straight points after that to give the Tigers a 39-33 advantage for the final two minutes. Colorado College held the visitors scoreless the rest of the way, though, and tied things up at 39-39 with a three-pointer in the final seconds of the half.
Green scored six points in a flash to start the second half action, capping the run with a dunk that made it a 45-39 Trinity lead less than a minute into the final period. Colorado College recovered from the early push to draw within one, but Trinity played with a lead the rest of the game. Trinity scored five unanswered points to take a 54-48 lead as the game approached 16 minutes to play, then answered a Colorado College basket by scoring seven of the next nine points to pull in front 61-52 just a couple of minutes later. Trinity was able to hold off Colorado College the rest of the game, keeping the lead at seven or more points the rest of the way.
The Tiger defense held Colorado College scoreless for more than six minutes beginning at the midway point of the half. That lead to a 12-point Trinity lead with under four minutes remaining in the game. After Colorado College finally ended the scoring drought with a basket, Trinity scored the next six points to remain in full control. Fenn had four of the six points during that stretch and the lead was 16 with 2:23 to play. The game was essentially in hand by then, and Trinity held Colorado College to just 11 points over the final 10 minutes of the game to seal the win.
Coach Speak
"Our depth showed again tonight," exclaimed Head Coach
Jimmy Smith. "I'm really proud of this group and how they continue to play as a team and find ways to win games."
Up Next
Trinity returns home in one week for the first of two straight weekends in San Antonio. The Tigers will take on the University of St. Thomas on Friday, January 12, at 5:30 p.m., then face Centenary College on January 13, at 4:00 p.m.
