MOUNT BERRY, Ga. – The Trinity University men's basketball team's comeback bid in the Southern Athletic Association Championship game came up three points short as Rhodes College (TN) escaped with a 79-76 victory on Saturday evening.
The Tigers (21-6) lost to Rhodes (23-4) for the third time this season and the Lynx are the only team that has won against Trinity since the beginning of 2026. Trinity trailed by as many as 22 points early in the second half, then stormed back to within three points with 3.2 seconds remaining. The Tigers were able to stop a long inbounds pass and pick up the loose ball, but the half-court heave at the buzzer missed and Rhodes took the win.
Trinity held a decisive 48-26 scoring edge in the paint, though Rhodes led 22-13 in points off turnovers. The Lynx also shot very well in all phases, hitting 50% of its shots overall and an impressive 45.8% (11-of-24) from three-point range. Rhodes also converted 16-of-21 (76.2%) at the free throw line. The Tigers also shot the ball well overall at 51.8% but struggled from beyond the arc and hit just 5-of-18 (27.8%). Trinity also shot just 59.1% (13-of-22) at the foul line. Despite a 34-27 rebounding edge for the Tigers, the three-point shooting and success at the charity stripe was too much for Trinity to overcome.
Jackson Lawson (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) led Trinity with 19 points on 9-of-16 shooting, while
Dean Balo (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) hit 6-of-13 from the field on his way to 18 points and nine rebounds.
Trent Medearis (Buda, Texas / Hays) was the only other Tiger player in double digits, coming off the bench to add 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Will Bronson (Dallas, Texas / Jesuit) finished with 11 rebounds but scored just four points.
Joshua Chesney (Corpus Christi, Texas / London) chipped in with seven points off the bench, while
Ben Estis (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) scored nine points in his 25 minutes.
The Rundown
Rhodes led from wire to wire, opening the game by hitting four of its first five shots and taking a 10-0 lead before the first media timeout. That margin grew as high as 15 points ahead of the nine-minute mark when Trinity finally made its first extended run of the game. Lawson hit a pair of shots to spark seven unanswered by the Tigers and cut the lead to 30-22 with 4:28 remaining in the half. Less than a minute later,
Zach Fenn (Covington, La. / Saint Paul's) got a steal and a fastbreak layup to make it a 32-26 game, but that was as close as Trinity got. Rhodes didn't score a field goal over the final 3:59 but hit four free throws and took a 36-28 lead into the break.
Fenn scored a layup to start the second half and bring the deficit back to just six, but Rhodes came out on fire and scored 15 straight points. Meanwhile, Trinity had four turnovers and four missed shots during that stretch and saw the lead grow to 51-30 just ahead of the under-16 media timeout. Rhodes got the lead to 54-32 after the timeout, but the Tigers came out of the break energized and scored 11 of the next 13 points to make it a 56-43 game with 12:29 to play. Rhodes got back on track after that and pushed the lead back to 20 over the next three minutes.
Trinity kept chipping away at the lead, but ultimately, the Tigers ran out of time. Two free throws at the 1:42 mark put Rhodes up 78-63 at the time, but that's when the final Trinity push started. Balo began the run with a quick three-pointer, then the Tigers got a steal in the backcourt and Balo was fouled with 1:12 to play. He hit both free throws to cut the lead to 10 and then Trinity forced another turnover near half court with under a minute left. Seconds later, Lawson cashed in a three-pointer to trim the lead to 78-71. The Tigers fouled on the inbounds pass and Rhodes hit just 1-of-2 at the line with 48.4 left. Balo dropped in a driving layup at 36.7 seconds that cut the margin to 79-73. Rhodes finally got the ball out of the backcourt after that and Medearis looked to have a steal with 25.7 left, but he stepped on the sideline as he grabbed the ball. Trinity had to foul after that with 19.3 to go, but the Lynx missed both free throws to keep the Tigers in the game. Balo's pull-up three with 13 seconds to go missed and the long rebound went to the Tigers with just 7.1 remaining. Balo's second attempt was good despite drawing a pair of defenders, and the score was 79-76 with 3.2 seconds left. Rhodes had trouble with the inbounds plays throughout the comeback and the final one was no different. Medearis knocked away a long pass into the frontcourt and although Estis came up with the loose ball, his desperation heave from beyond half court was not to be and Rhodes came away with the win.
Up Next
Trinity, which came into today's game ranked 21st in the NCAA Power Index (NPI), will await a potential at-large bid to the NCAA Playoffs. The NCAA Selection Show will be streamed at NCAA.com on Monday, March 2, at 1:00 p.m. (ET) and will reveal the full field of teams and matchups for the postseason tournament.
