COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Trinity's 11th-ranked men's basketball team finished its first weekend of the regular season with a thrilling 82-81 overtime win against Pacific University (OR), with senior Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) connecting on a buzzer-beating three-pointer to win the game.

The teams were tied 32-32 at the break, then 74-74 at the end of regulation. Pacific had a four-point lead with 2:29 left in the overtime period, but Harvey pulled the Tigers within one with a three-pointer just over a minute later to make it 80-79. Neither team scored again until the final seconds. Pacific was fouled with right around 15 seconds remaining but made just one of the two foul shots to set up Trinity's final possession. The Tigers initially looked like they were simply trying to tie things up and extend the game but couldn't find an open shot. With the clock winding down, Carter Ruck (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) found Harvey open near the top of the key, and Harvey swished the game-winning three-pointer with no time left.

Harvey made just 3-of-12 from distance in the game, finishing with 22 points to lead the Tigers in scoring. Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) added 20 points and tied for the team lead with seven rebounds, while Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) added 17 points of his own. The Tiger trio were a combined 19-for-19 at the foul line in the game.

The Rundown
This was a true back-and-forth battle between teams as the game ended up with 16 ties and 20 lead changes. Neither team led by more than seven points the entire game and the teams were equal on just about every stat in the box score. The only glaring difference was Trinity's 29-15 edge in fast break points.

Both teams struggled to score early in the game and the first media timeout saw Pacific leading 5-4 after nearly five full minutes of play. Trailing 9-5 just over a minute later, Pacific rattled off the largest run of the game with 10 straight points to take a 15-9 lead with less than half of the period remaining. The lead got as high as seven points near the eight-minute mark, but Trinity used a run of its own to take a 21-20 lead with under five minutes left before half. The teams exchanged leads and ties multiple times down the stretch and Green tied things up with two free throws in the final seconds for a 32-32 game.

Trinity jumped in front by four points early in the second half, but that would be the largest lead for either team until the game approached five minutes to play. Pacific turned a 59-59 tie into a 66-59 lead with 5:16 left and still led by six points (72-66) with 2:49 remaining. The Tigers surged back into the lead after that with eight unanswered points as Harvey contributed half of the points during that stretch. Pacific hit two free throws with 27 seconds left to tie things up once again at 74-74, and Trinity's last-second shot missed to send the game to overtime. That's when Pacific scored six of the first eight points of the extra period to take the 80-76 lead with 2:29 left. That also set up the final sequence and the heroics from Harvey.

Up Next
Trinity will be back on the road for an exhibition game against Sam Houston State University (TX) on Thursday, November 21, at 7:00 p.m. The next regular season game for the Tigers will be on their way back to San Antonio as they will stop in Houston, Texas, to take on the University of Wisconsin-Superior at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 23.