ABILENE, Texas – The 12th-ranked Trinity University men's basketball team finished off its opening weekend of the season with a 96-71 win over California Lutheran University on Saturday evening at the HSU Classic, hosted by Hardin-Simmons University (TX).
The Tigers (2-0) outscored the Regals (0-2) 46-31 in the first half, then finished with a 50-40 edge in the final 20 minutes. Trinity shot nearly 50% from the field, connecting on 15-of-34 from three-point range (44.1%), and hit 15-of-18 (83.3%) at the foul line. The Tigers also held Cal Lutheran to 40% shooting overall and under 30% from distance. Trinity outrebounded CLU 52-25, including 17 offensive rebounds that led to a 19-6 advantage in second-chance points.
Dylan Walker (Highland Park, Texas / Highland Park) led Trinity with 24 points in just 22 minutes in tonight's win, hitting 8-of-12 from the field and a career-high 7-of-10 from three-point range – just two short of Trinity's single game record.
Will Bronson (Dallas, Texas / Jesuit) turned in a 10-point, 13-rebound double-double in just 20 minutes on the court.
Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) was the only other Tiger in double figures, scoring 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting. There were 13 different Tigers to see action off the bench tonight and
Benjamin Wagner (San Antonio, Texas / Cornerstone) led the unit with eight points.
Corbin Crocker (San Antonio, Texas / TMI Episcopal) and
Brad Brown (Teaneck, N.J. / Don Bosco Prep) chipped in with six points each off the bench, with Crocker also pulling in six boards and recording two blocks.
Carter Ruck (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) scored five points to go with six rebounds and a team-leading six assists.
Ben Estis (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) just missed double figures with nine points, while fellow starter
Jackson Lawson (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) turned in seven points and five rebounds.
The Rundown
Trinity jumped out to a 6-0 lead after consecutive threes from Walker and Estis to start the game, and the Tigers never trailed in what became a lopsided contest. Cal Lutheran cut the lead in half after that, but Bronson sank a pair of layups shortly after and Trinity went up 11-3 with just over three minutes gone in the game. The lead was just five a couple of minutes later, but Crocker opened an 18-0 run with a jump shot that was followed by three-pointers from Brown and Ruck. Walker then scored five straight on his own with a three and a layup, then Balo converted an and-one three-point play. Bronson got an offensive rebound and a putback layup to close the run, putting Trinity in front 33-10. The streak lasted nearly seven minutes, but Cal Lutheran did use a 12-0 run of its own to bring the lead back to 11 at 33-22 with 4:38 to go in the half. Walker and Lawson hit consecutive three-point shots to answer the CLU run and put the lead back to 17 points. The closest the Regals got after that was 13 points in the final minute, but Balo got the final bucket for the 46-31 lead.
Balo started the second half with a layup that was followed by a jumper from Lawson and the Tigers led 50-31 less than a minute into the period. Bronson hit a couple of shots and Walker added another three before the first media timeout, maintaining the 19-point advantage. Cal Lutheran never got closer than 17 points after that, and the Tigers continued their hot shooting. Walker added two more threes during a 10-1 run that was capped by another offensive rebound and layup from Bronson, giving Trinity a 76-49 lead with 8:25 to play. Crocker had a pair of layups surrounding a three from Wagner that took the lead to its peak at 87-54 with under five minutes remaining to effectively seal the win.
Up Next
Trinity will be back on the road for another tournament next weekend, heading to Bloomington, Ill. for the Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational at Illinois Wesleyan University. The Tigers face off against Benedictine University (IL) on Saturday, November 14, at 6:00 p.m. They will face either IWU or Yeshiva University (NY) on Sunday at a time to be determined by Saturday's results.
