KERRVILLE, Texas – The #23 Trinity University men's basketball team closed out the 2024 calendar year with a narrow 84-81 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference loss at Schreiner University on New Year's Eve.

The Tigers dropped to 6-3 this season, while Schreiner improved to 8-2 overall as both teams opened up conference play with tonight's game. Trinity still leads the series with a 24-15 record against the Mountaineers, though the series is much closer to even in Kerrville as Trinity is just 8-7 on the road. The Tigers have still won 10 of the last 12 meetings between the teams.

Trinity staged a late comeback to tie the game, with Carter Ruck (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) buried a three-pointer with 39.8 remaining and then tied the game with a driving layup with just under nine seconds left. Schreiner then raced down the court for a quick shot in the paint, drawing a foul and completing the and-one possession for an 84-81 lead with 3.2 seconds left. Without any timeouts, Trinity was forced to throw up a long pass in hopes for a game-tying three-pointer; however, the desperation shot came after the buzzer and Schreiner secured the victory.

Robert Conrad (Cedar Creek, Texas / Cedar Creek) came off the bench and led Trinity with 19 points in 19 minutes on 8-of-11 shooting. Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) finished with 16 points and a team-best six rebounds, while Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) also reached double figures with 12 points. Harvey and Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) led the Tigers with three assists each.

The Rundown
Trinity scored the first five points of the game, but Schreiner shot well all night long and was able to keep pace despite committing 11 turnovers in the first half. The Tigers took their biggest lead of the first half on a layup from Conrad with 3:40 remaining, making it a 33-27 game at the time. The Mountaineers solved their turnover issues and were able to make a late push to grab the momentum. Schreiner scored 14 of the final 17 points after the Conrad bucket to take a 41-36 advantage into the second period.

Less than five minutes into the second half, Harvey nailed a three-pointer to bring Trinity all the way back and the teams wound up trading the lead several times after that. After a three from Conrad gave the Tigers a 61-60 lead just past the midway point of the final period, Schreiner scored seven unanswered points to take control of the game once again. That margin went as high as eight points with three minutes left in the game and was still an 80-72 game less than a minute later. Conrad then had back-to-back scores for Trinity, coupled with Schreiner hitting one of two free throws, and the lead was down to 81-76 with 1:37 left. The run wound up being a 9-1 spurt when combined with Ruck's scores in the final minute, but Schreiner got the final points to decide the game.

Up Next
The Tigers will be back in action this weekend, hosting the University of Rochester (NY) on Saturday, January 4, at 1:00 p.m. Trinity and Schreiner will complete their regular season series in San Antonio on Monday, January 6, at 7:30 p.m.