SAN ANTONIO – The 24th-ranked Trinity University men's basketball team began Southern Athletic Association play with a 94-74 home win over Southwestern University (TX) on Saturday evening in Calgaard Gym.
The Tigers are 9-3 after the win and the Pirates drop to 6-6 overall with the loss. Trinity has now won nine straight meetings in the series and has not lost a game since splitting with Southwestern during the 2019-20 season. Trinity held a 23-16 edge in fastbreak points and a 44-26 scoring margin in the paint. Neither team shot particularly well from three-point range with Trinity leading at 30.4% to Southwestern's 27.1% from beyond the arc. Overall, the Tigers hit better than 48% from the field and held the Pirates to 32% shooting on the night. Trinity also had a large discrepancy at the foul line, connecting on better than 80% (29-for-36) at the line compared to just 63.6% (7-for-11) free throw shooting for Southwestern.
Will Bronson (Dallas, Texas / Jesuit) had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, hitting 10-of-12 at the foul line and also leading the team with three blocked shots.
Jackson Lawson (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) led Trinity with 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, hitting two three-pointers and grabbing five rebounds.
Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) added 12 points and four boards, while
Ben Estis (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) went 6-for-6 at the line and scored eight points.
Zach Fenn (Covington, La. / Saint Paul's) led the Tigers with four assists and three steals to go with six rebounds.
Joshua Chesney (Corpus Christi, Texas / London) came off the bench with 11 points in 13 minutes and
Gabe Parr (Austin, Texas / Westwood) chipped in with eight points, six boards, and three assists in just 12 minutes.
Trent Medearis (Buda, Texas / Hays) added seven points on 3-of-4 shooting.
The Rundown
Trinity scored the first six points in less than 90 seconds to take the early lead and built a 12-5 advantage in the first five minutes of the game. Southwestern came to life with three three-pointers in less than a minute to draw within two at 16-14. The teams traded scores after that until the Pirates scored five quick points to take its first lead at 19-18.
Max Sprott (Mission Hills, Kan. / Pembroke Hill) reclaimed the lead just 20 seconds later, though, cashing in a three-pointer after an offensive rebound by Parr. That sparked six straight points by Trinity, as Lawson and Parr both scored layups to take advantage of a cold shooting spell by the Pirates. Southwestern went more than three minutes without scoring after taking the brief lead and would never get closer than four the rest of the way. The lead was just five with less than six minutes left in the half when Trinity scored 10 of the next 14 points to push the margin to double figures with 2:23 remaining. The teams traded scores again after that and the Tigers led 44-35 at halftime.
The second half began with Southwestern scoring the cut into the lead, but Trinity answered with four points from Bronson and a three-pointer from Lawson to make it a 51-37 game less than two minutes into the period. The run continued after a Southwestern bucket as Balo scored five straight on his own and then Fenn got a steal and a layup to give the Tigers a 58-39 lead with 16:33 left. The lead passed 20 points just over five minutes later and Trinity went ahead by as many as 24 points near the midway point of the period. The Pirates had one final push in them as the game approached its final eight minutes. With Trinity leading 78-58, Southwestern scored eight unanswered to bring the game within reach. Lawson hit a three-pointer to break up the streak and Southwestern never got closer than 12 the rest of the way. The two teams hit one shot each over a three-minute stretch late in the game, then Lawson put the game out of reach with back-to-back layups near the two-minute mark to put the Tigers up 90-73. Estis made it six straight for Trinity with another bucket at 1:27, then Sprott put the finishing touches on the game in the final minute to account for the final 94-74 score.
Up Next
Trinity is back home for more conference action next weekend, hosting Oglethorpe University (GA) on Friday, January 9, at 8:00 p.m., and then taking on Berry College (GA) on Sunday, January 11, at 2:00 p.m.
