SAN ANTONIO – The 23rd-ranked Trinity University men's basketball team kicked off the new calendar year with a 97-59 win over the University of Rochester (NY) on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers improved to 7-3 this season with the win, while Rochester fell to 6-5 overall with its fourth loss in the last five games. The win for Trinity evens the series between the two, as Rochester won the previous meeting that came in 2022. The Tigers built up a double-digit lead by halftime, then exploded for 54 points in the second half, doubling the output of the Yellowjackets in what became a blowout.
Trinity shot better than 53% overall in the game, while also catching fire in the second half from beyond the arc with a 9-for-13 performance in the period, and a 57.9% overall clip from three-point range. The Tiger defense also held Rochester to under 36% shooting overall and just 5-for-27 (18.5%) from three-point range. Trinity also held a decisive 19-6 edge on second-chance points and a 26-7 lead on points off turnovers, then also had a 36-8 advantage on fastbreak points and doubled up Rochester 44-22 on points in the paint.
Christian Green (San Antonio, Texas / Veterans Memorial) and
Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) both scored more than 20 points in the game, with
Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) adding 10 points of his own for three Tiger players in double figures. Green finished with game-highs with 24 points and nine rebounds, while Harvey flirted with a triple-double of 22 points, six rebounds, and a career-high eight assists.
Robert Conrad (Cedar Creek, Texas / Cedar Creek) came off the bench to score eight points in nine minutes.
The Rundown
Trinity led nearly wire-to-wire in the game, breaking a 5-5 tie with an 8-2 run that made it a 13-6 lead by the first media timeout. Rochester never got closer than a three-point deficit the rest of the way. As the clock ticked under five minutes, the Yellowjackets were down just 33-29 when Trinity knocked its guests down with a 9-2 run that pushed the lead to double figures for the first time. Green hit back-to-back layups on a pair of assists from Harvey, then Harvey nailed a three-pointer to close the run with a 42-31 lead and just 2:02 remaining in the first half. The Tigers took a 43-33 advantage into the halftime break.
Harvey and Green powered Trinity early in the second half, resulting in a 17-point lead and a quick timeout by Rochester. Green hit a pair of layups to start things off for the Tigers, then Harvey scored eight straight Trinity points to make it a 57-40 game with 16:41 remaining. Seconds later, Millhouse and Harvey hit consecutive three-pointers to take the lead to 20 points, then Green punctuated the Tiger run with a thundering dunk on Harvey's pass off the backboard to make it a 67-43 game with under 14 minutes to play. Shortly after, Rochester went nearly five minutes without scoring and Trinity pushed the margin past 30 points to put the game out of reach with less than eight minutes left.
Up Next
Trinity finished off the non-conference schedule with today's win and will continue Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference action by hosting Schreiner University (TX) on Monday, January 6, at 7:30 p.m.
