In their only Division I matchup of the year, the Men’s Basketball Team faced a tough loss against the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Despite the loss, the Tigers showed promise against the powerhouse Roadrunners.
The Tigers were at a disadvantage from the start, as beating a Division I team as a Division III team is a difficult hill to climb. Although the UTSA players were noticeably larger and stronger than Trinity’s, the Tigers had them outmatched in speed. Senior biology major and starting guard Tanner Brown dropped 15 points that night and discussed strategies coming into the game against the Roadrunners.
“We talked about [UTSA’s players] being a lot slower,” Brown said. “So that means our pace needs to be increased, right? So once we get that rebound, we need to push it down the court quick as possible to kind of, you know, mediate that physicality.”
Living up to their name, the Roadrunners got off to a fast start by going up 24 – 10 with nine minutes to go in the first half. They were playing stellar defense, utilizing their physicality by dominating the paint defensively. On top of this, they were nailing the shots that mattered, shooting nearly 44% for all shots in the first half. In contrast, the Tigers struggled in the beginning, shooting 30% from the field and having trouble stopping UTSA from scoring.
“I mean, we could have done a lot of things to limit that,” Brown said. “I’d say the most, the biggest part is probably allowing too many offensive rebounds and second-chance points. They were a lot bigger and stronger than us, but there’s still things to be done to stop that, you know, boxing out, communicating on the defensive end a little better.”
Both teams struggled heavily with the 3-pointer in the first half, as UTSA shot 25% while the Tigers shot 15%. Although the Tigers had a slow start, they quickly picked it up towards the end of the first half, finding a groove and consistently hitting shots. At the end of the half, the game was in the Roadrunners’ hands with a score of 42-30.
The second half of the game started off well for the Tigers as they gained much-needed momentum that wasn’t present in the first half. Notable performances from Dean Balo (‘27) and Abdullah Roberts (‘24) helped the Tigers find their strength, providing a combined 25 points between the two of them. At one point, the Tigers were only down 9 points with 13 minutes to go, injecting hope into Trinity fans. Although the Roadrunners had a better percentage in overall field goals and 3-pointers, the Tigers held their own with free throws, shooting 66% with 24 attempts, as opposed to the Roadrunners 50% with six attempts. There was a staggering offensive difference between this point and the beginning of the games as the offense started to find their groove.
“For the first half, we didn’t really hit our shots. But for the second half, yeah, we kind of, we got some stops. We were able to rebound and then from there we pushed in transition and got some good books,” Brown said.
Despite high hopes and a great change in momentum, the Tigers could not stop the offensive dominance from UTSA, leading to a final score of 100-70. Despite the loss, sparks of hope were seen on UTSA’s home court for the Tigers. Giving the same organization that has made the NCAA tournament twice a run for their money is certainly a sign of future success. The Tigers play their next match away against the University of Colorado on November 3rd.
