CLAREMONT, Calif. – The ninth-ranked Tiger men's basketball team held off a late rally to defeat Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (CA) 73-71 on Friday evening.
Trinity improved to 4-0 this season, while Pomona dropped to 3-2 with the loss. The Tigers are now 4-5 all-time against the Sagehens, winning each of the last two meetings, and squaring their record to 2-2 in road games for the series. Trinity led by 10 points late in the first half but needed a huge defensive stop in the end to hold on to the win.
The Tigers shot just over 49% from the field and just over 39% from three-point range, while Pomona hit just under 44% overall and were red-hot at 50% (11-of-22) from three-point range. Trinity hit 10-for-14 (71.4%) at the foul line, but Pomona converted just 10-of-18 (55.6%) at the charity stripe. Trinity swiped nine steals on 13 total turnovers as well.
Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) led Trinity with 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting that included 3-for-8 from three-point range, and 5-for-5 at the line.
Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) added 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting, dished out a team-best five assists, and tied for the team lead with nine rebounds and three steals.
Braxton Barry (Houston, Texas / Westbury Christian) had seven points to go with nine boards, adding two blocks.
Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) came off the bench with eight points, while
Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) and
Robert Conrad (Cedar Creek, Texas / Cedar Creek) finished with five points each, and Balo also had four rebounds and four assists.
Zach Fenn (Covington, La. / Saint Paul's) tied Green for the team lead with three steals.
The Rundown
Both teams started off hot and the points came early and often. Pomona struck first with the first five points of the game, but Trinity was quickly back in it with aggressive defense and a quick-strike offense. There were 17 lead changes in the first half alone, though the Tigers held the advantage for more than half of the period. Harvey and Green accounted for 20 of the first 26 points for Trinity and had their team up one at 26-25 at the under-eight media timeout.
The game was tied for the fourth time of the half with just over five minutes remaining when Trinity put together the first big run of the game to take control. Conrad started a 12-2 Tiger run with five straight points and the visitors took a 42-32 lead with a minute to play. Pomona scored a basket and two free throws in the final minute to cut it to a 42-36 lead at the break. Harvey and Green were held scoreless over the final eight minutes but still led the team with 10 points each. Barry had six boards in the first half, followed by Green's five rebounds.
The Tigers opened the second half with three unanswered baskets, punctuated by an alley-oop from Harvey to Green that prompted an early timeout by Pomona. The Sagehens came out of the timeout with the right formula, using a 17-8 run to pull within three points at the under-12 timeout. Harvey scored all eight Trinity points during the run to keep his team in the lead at 56-53. After the media timeout, Green and Harvey both got baskets to break up the Pomona run, then
Carter Ruck (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) nailed a three-pointer to take the lead back to double figures at 63-53.
Pomona cut the lead in half with five straight, then Ruck hit another three with under eight minutes left, but an offensive foul erased took the points off the board and the Tigers led 63-58 heading into the timeout. After that break, Millhouse hit back-to-back three-pointers to take the lead to 69-58 with 6:41 remaining. Trinity didn't score another field goal for more than six minutes as Pomona made one last run to try and steal the victory. The Tiger offense continued to struggle with turnovers and missed shots, while Pomona continued fighting and had the lead down to seven with just over five minutes left.
The Sagehens then hit a three-pointer to force a timeout with 4:14 left, as the Tigers were clinging to the 69-65 lead. Barry nailed a pair of free throws after being fouled on an open layup to push the lead back to 71-65. After a couple of empty possessions for both teams over the next 90 seconds, Pomona really made it a game with a three-pointer to cut the lead in half with 2:31 left. The Tigers relied on defense down the stretch and forced another missed shot with 1:39 left. After a timeout, the Tigers had a good look for Green that he just missed to give the ball back to the Sagehens. He made up for it with a steal with 55 seconds left to put Trinity back in control with a three-point lead.
Balo got an open look from three-point range, but he immediately crashed the boards to get his own rebound and dropped in a layup to make it a 73-68 game with 25 seconds left. Pomona also got an offensive rebound on its next possession and turned that into a three-pointer to cut it to 73-71 with 8.6 seconds to go. Pomona fouled quickly to keep the game alive, and Trinity missed the front of a one-and-one, giving the Sagehens the ball back with a chance to win or tie with 6.0 seconds to play. After a timeout, Pomona got the ball in near the foul line and then kicked it back out for a shot from distance that could win the game, but Barry flew in with a game-sealing block to give Trinity the narrow victory.
Up Next
Trinity concludes its California road trip by facing off against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (CA) tomorrow evening at 5:00 p.m. (PT).
