SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity men's basketball team won its third straight tonight, taking a 96-90 win against Centre College (8-9, 1-6 SAA). The Colonels got aggressive late, looking like they might stage a comeback, but foul trouble and stifling Tiger defense kept them at bay.

The Tigers shot the ball well overall, making 53% of their field goals, but could not get the three to fall, making just 19% of their shots from deep. The Colonels struggled from the field, making 38% of their shots, but were money from deep, cashing in on 42% of their three-pointers. Both teams held on to the ball relatively well tonight, as Trinity had 11 turnovers to Centre's 7. The rebounding edge was also pretty even, as Centre slightly outrebounded the Tigers, 46-44. A big difference was in the free throw shooting numbers, where the Colonels struggled mightily. They made just 55% of their free throws, while the Tigers hit 78% of theirs.

Will Bronson (Dallas, Texas / Jesuit) had a monster game tonight, dropping 23 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks on 88% (7-8) shooting. He was able to get to the free throw line all game long, making 9 of his 11 shots from the charity stripe. Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) had a big outing as well, recording 20 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists on 63% (5-8) shooting from the field and 75% (3-4) shooting from deep. Jackson Lawson (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) followed up his career night by posting 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal. Zach Fenn (Covington, La. / Saint Paul's) had 10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. 

The Rundown
The Colonels came out strong, taking an 8-2 lead with 18:04 to play as the Tigers struggled to hold on to the ball early. In response, Trinity got right back into it with a 8-0 run thanks to four early points from Fenn. They took their first lead of the game at 8-10 with 16:39 to play. Over the next 10 minutes, things stayed close as neither team could grab any meaningful advantage, and with 9:56 to play the Tigers led by just six, 32-26. That's when they really found their stride, taking their first double-digit lead of the game with 5:11 to play, 36-26. With 35 seconds to play, Balo banged home his second straight trey ball to cap off a 17-6 lead that broke the game open for Trinity. His triple gave the Tigers a 49-32 lead, which would be hampered only by two last second Centre free throws. Heading into the break, Trinity was starting to break away, leading 49-35.

It was a back-and-forth affair all quarter long, but the Tigers were keeping the lead firmly out of Centre's reach. After a quick 6-0 run, with Bronson contributing 4 points to the tally, Trinity found themselves with their biggest lead of the game, up 60-41 with 14:54 to play. That's where the lead would stay for the next three minutes, as any attempt to spark a comeback from the hot hand of Centre's Drake Ingram was stifled by the Tigers on the other end, including an exclamation point slam from Benjamin Wagner (San Antonio, Texas / Cornerstone) to keep Trinity up 63-45 with 12:12 to go. With 9:04 to play, and the Tigers up 70-56, the Colonels rediscovered their success from the field, heading on a 13-3 run to bring the game back within reach, 69-73 with 5:29 to play. Not willing to repeat the comeback that took place in the women's game just before, the Tigers stopped any advancement from Centre there. Any threat the Colonels posed was mitigated by their inability to stay out of foul trouble in the final minutes, and after some staunch defense by the Tigers as the seconds wound down, Trinity survived with a 96-90 win.

Looking Ahead
With the win, the Tigers take sole possession of first place in the SAA, trailed in second by Rhodes College (14-3, 5-1 SAA). They will head on the road next weekend to take on the Sewanee (8-9, 4-2 SAA) and Centre, this time at their home courts.