SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity University men's basketball team secured an undefeated weekend of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action at home with an 88-80 win over Concordia University (TX) on Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers remained atop the SCAC Gold Division with a 3-1 conference mark to go with its 10-3 overall record this year. Concordia falls to 3-8 overall this season and 0-2 in SCAC play. Trinity is now 7-4 in the series against the Tornados, having won three straight meetings between the teams. Trinity finished the game plus-18 at the foul line, hitting better than 85% (29-for-34) from the charity stripe.
Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) broke Trinity's career record for three-point field goals made, hitting three in today's game to help him reach 17 points. Harvey also connected on all eight free throw attempts and recorded a pair of steals.
Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) poured in a career-high 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting, knocking down 7-for-8 at the free throw line, and also led the team with eight rebounds.
Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) chipped in with 14 points to go with team-bests in both assists (four) and steals (five).
Carter Ruck (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) also had nine points and four assists to tie with Millhouse, while
Zach Fenn (Covington, La. / Saint Paul's) also had four assists to go with three steals.
Braxton Barry (Houston, Texas / Westbury Christian) finished with four points and six boards, while
Robert Conrad (Cedar Creek, Texas / Cedar Creek) went 6-for-6 at the line to lead the Tiger bench with six points scored.
The Rundown
Trinity came out quick with back-to-back buckets from Green, then Harvey nailed two free throws to put the Tigers up 6-0 in the opening minutes of the game. Concordia answered with an 8-0 run to take its first lead, and the teams settled in for a battle. After the teams traded baskets to put the Tornados up 10-8, Green started an 8-0 run for the Tigers that made it a 16-10 game with under 12 left in the half. Trinity never trailed the rest of the period, though Concordia did cut it to a two-point lead at the 8:40 mark. Trinity scored on a putback on its next possession, then Harvey nailed a three to take the lead back to seven points at 25-18. The visitors cut a six-point Trinity lead in half with a three-pointer with a little over three minutes left, but the Tigers made 5-of-5 at the line over the next two minutes and the lead was back to eight. Concordia scored the final basket of the half with under a minute to play, but Trinity still held a 38-32 lead at the break.
Green knocked down two foul shots and Ruck splashed a three to start the scoring in the second half, taking the Tiger lead to double figures at 43-32. After a quick spurt of seven unanswered points by Concordia, Ruck made another three to open an 11-1 run that gave Trinity a 54-40 lead with 14:31 remaining in the game. Ruck had two three-pointers during that stretch, while Millhouse accounted for the other five Tiger points. For the most part, Trinity's lead was double digits after that, though it never went higher than 14 points. After two free throws by Conrad with 5:44 left, Trinity was still up 14 (76-62) when Concordia made one final push.
The Tornados capped a 9-0 run with a three-pointer that made it a 76-71 game with just under four minutes left. Fenn's ensuing layup was answered by another three for Concordia and the lead was down to 78-74 just seconds later. Another basket for the visitors just ahead of the two-minute mark made it a one-possession game at 79-76. Trinity missed its next shot, then Concordia missed a potential game-tying three. That's when Harvey collected a long rebound and streaked down the court for a fastbreak. He pulled up in front of the Tiger bench and nailed a shot that not only doubled his team's lead to 82-76 but was also the record-breaking three-pointer with just 1:30 left in the game. Green and Harvey combined to go 4-for-4 at the line in the final 20-plus seconds to seal the win.
Up Next
Trinity will be back on the road next weekend to face the University of Dallas (TX) and Austin College (TX) in SCAC action in North Texas. The Tigers take on Dallas in Irving, Texas, on Friday, January 17, at 7:30 p.m., then move north to Sherman, Texas, to meet Austin at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 18.
