Trinity Men’s Basketball’s extraordinary season came to an end on Friday, March 1, as the Tigers fell to the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) 63-67. After a 23-2 regular season, Trinity’s last two games of the season both ended in a loss, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth of the Tigers to end the year.
Despite the result not being what the Tigers had hoped for, the game was a huge success from an attendance standpoint. The event started in earnest at 5:30 p.m. when Nebraska Wesleyan beat Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference champions Centenary in Calgaard Gym. But for Trinity students, the evening started at 6:00, when they took a break from celebrating the Lunar New Year or competing at the Greek Olympics to run up the steps of the Bell Center and collect their free white-out shirts from SGA.
The game started at 7:35, and students poured in to cheer on the Tigers in the playoffs. The game started slow for Trinity as they went down 8-2 quickly and remained down six for over four minutes. Even after Trinity eventually tied the game at eight, they struggled to keep pace with the UTD offense, who were able to extend their lead back out to six and eventually to nine with 4:27 left in the first half.
However, Trinity turned on the sparks and managed to go into half-time down only a single possession, scoring 30-27. A three-pointer from junior guard Jacob Harvey started the Trinity rally, and with three free throws by senior guard Tanner Brown, Trinity had reduced their deficit to within striking distance. Unfortunately, making free throws would not be something the Tigers could rely on in the second half, as they went just 6 of 17 from the line in the second half.
UTD would reassert a stronghold on the game, reaching a game-high lead of 10 after the first six minutes and then again with 11:00 left in the game. Despite falling behind all game, Trinity refused to quit. They never let the lead get out of hand, and because of that, they found themselves still in the game with 11 minutes to go.
After a jumper for UTD’s Nick Donelly, Trinity went on a run with six unanswered points through three straight possessions. Trinity followed this hot streak by joining UTD in a minute of no points, followed by two more minutes of no scoring before UTD hit a clutch three to pull ahead 60-52 with just 5:19 left.
Trinity still refused to lay down, as just two minutes later, senior guard Grayson Herr sent Calgaard Gym into pandemonium with a huge three to tie the game at 60. The two-minute, eight-point comeback from Trinity included seven points from Herr, who put the team on his back in crunch time. Just under a minute later, the first-year guard Dean Balo put up a jumper in the paint to give the Tigers their first lead of the game with under three minutes left.
However, the late-game heroics ended there. No amount of Trinity spirit could help the Tigers from the free throw line as they were outscored four to one on free throws in the last two minutes, with both teams shooting four. Trinity fell in one of basketball’s classic finishes with late free-throw drama.
Given that Trinity was hosting their Regional, the expectation was that they would go further in the tournament, especially after having lost to only one team all year before the postseason. However, a team with only three seniors that won as many games as Trinity did will always feel that they can come back stronger.
