COLORADO SPRINGS – No. 24 Tiger men's basketball team earned a hard-fought 83-76 road victory over Colorado College on Sunday afternoon, bouncing back from Friday's defeat to St Thomas.

The Tigers improved to 21-4 overall and 14-2 in SCAC play, while Colorado College fell to 13-12 overall and 9-7 in conference action. The Tigers will enter the conference tournament as the #1 seed from the gold side of the SCAC, while Colorado will hold the #2 seed on the blue side, meaning a potential rematch could be on the cards in the semi-finals. 

Trinity shot an efficient 50.0% from the field and 89.3% from the free-throw line, while holding Colorado College to 40.4% shooting overall. The Tigers also capitalized on turnovers, scoring 20 points off 15 Colorado College giveaways and out scoring their bench 32-19.

Ty Williams (Pearland, Texas / Pearland) led Trinity with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line, while also grabbing a rebound and a steal. Will Bronson (Dallas, Texas / Jesuit) provided a strong presence off the bench, contributing 14 points and eight rebounds in just 23 minutes. Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) and Jacob Millhouse (Plano, Texas / Independence) each added 10 points, with Balo dishing out a team-high six assists. Zach Fenn (Covington, La. / Saint Paul's) chipped in seven points and three rebounds while adding two steals.

The Rundown
Trinity came out strong, setting the tone early with an aggressive offensive attack and stifling defense. Millhouse knocked down an early three-pointer, and Williams muscled his way inside for a tough finish, helping the Tigers jump out to a 9-3 lead. Their defense was disruptive in the opening minutes, forcing turnovers that led to transition buckets, with a steal from Jacob Harvey (Huffman, Texas / Hargrave) turning into an easy fast-break layup for Fenn giving the Tigers their largest lead of the half at 24-14.Colorado College began to chip away at the lead, taking advantage of a cold stretch from Trinity and responding with back-to-back triples. Despite a late first-half three from Balo, Colorado College surged ahead, closing the period on a 10-3 run to take a 50-48 lead into halftime. 

The Tigers wasted no time regaining momentum to start the second half. Consecutive threes from Balo and Millhouse ignited a 10-0 run to put Trinity back in the lead. Williams then took charge, bullying his way to the rim for an and-one finish before nailing a mid-range jumper to extend the lead. Trinity held Colorado to just seven made field goals in the second half, showing defensive resilience and determination to get back in the win column. Colorado College attempted to rally, trimming the lead to five in the final minute, but Williams delivered the dagger, slamming home a fast-break dunk off a pinpoint assist from Millhouse to seal the victory.

Up Next 
The Tigers head to Irving, Texas where they will be hoping to win their first SCAC Championship since 2014. Trinity will play the winner of Colorado College and Concordia (TX.) on Saturday, March 1 with tip-off set for 7:00pm.