Men’s basketball:
This season, Trinity men’s basketball won 15 of 16 regular season games with a points differential of 279. Despite a disappointing loss to rival St. Thomas on Feb. 21 dropping the Tigers out of the Division III top 25, the red-hot Tigers look towards one final Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament before moving to the Southern Athletic Association.
As gold division winners in the new SCAC format — where the 12 SCAC teams are divided into two divisions of six, with St. Thomas University winning the blue division — Trinity has a first-round bye and will face the winner of the Feb. 28, 7 p.m. game between third place in their division, Concordia University, and second place in the blue division, Colorado College.
Trinity beat Concordia twice this season, first in San Antonio by eight on Jan. 12. The Tigers almost let the game slip late, as three separate 14-point leads fell to just a three-point lead with two minutes left. A week later, their match-up in Austin was even closer, with only one double-digit lead total between the two teams. Neither team led by more than six after halftime and there were 19 lead changes in the game before the Tigers finally snatched the four-point win. Sophomore forward Christian Green led Trinity in rebounds in both games and scored 27 points at home, while senior guard Jacob Harvey scored 26 on the road.
The Tigers have only faced their Tiger counterparts in Colorado once this season, winning at over 6,000 feet above sea level in their final game of the regular season on Feb. 23. The first half had two technical fouls on each team and a flagrant on the Texan Tigers, as foul trouble put the Coloradan Tigers up at half despite Trinity’s early 12-point lead.
After halftime, Trinity took the lead back and never let it slip, as Colorado College never came within a possession after the first four minutes of the half. Senior forward Ty Williams was the scoring leader with 22, while 6-foot-9 first-year forward Will Bronson had eight rebounds, filling in for Green who was out for his eighth straight game since Jan. 26.
Trinity could face one of three teams if they make the final: the University of Dallas, Schreiner University or St. Thomas University. Dallas, the tournament hosts, lost to Trinity on Jan. 17 in Irving in a game very similar to Trinity’s win at home over Concordia on Jan. 12. Schreiner and St. Thomas, on the other hand, are the only SCAC teams to beat the Tigers this season.
Schreiner beat Trinity on New Year’s Eve with a near buzzer-beater from junior Schreiner guard Dylan Mackey’s layup six seconds after Trinity had finished their methodical comeback by tying the game. A week later on Jan. 6, the Tigers trounced Schriener by 27 at Calgaard Gym, the first win in a streak of 13 straight.
St. Thomas ended Trinity’s win streak on Feb. 22. Trinity never led, trailing by as many as 22 before their late surges were put down and the Lions won by 12. Perhaps the game would have gone differently if star forward Christian Green had played, as was the original plan, but instead, St. Thomas became the only SCAC team Trinity has not beaten this season. They hold the top spot in the blue division, have lost only one conference game all year and are currently ranked No. 22 in the nation.
With all that said, on paper, Trinity should get a rematch with St. Thomas in the final on March 2, but seeding and regular season results aren’t everything. Last year, St. Thomas and Trinity had byes and lost their first games. With Christian Green set to return, the Tigers’ focus turns to tomorrow’s 7 p.m. semifinal, where prospects of Sunday’s final and a last SCAC trophy hang in the balance.
Women’s basketball:
Trinity women’s basketball’s 10-6 conference record was just enough to earn an appearance in the SCAC tournament — their final one before moving to the SAA — as the third-place team in the gold division. Trinity will face second place in the blue division, St. Thomas University, on Feb. 28 at 2 p.m.
The Tigers enter the tournament in a corner with no hope of an NCAA tournament at-large bid. It is win or go home, and with a final shot at the SCAC championship, a chance to win four in a row and nothing to lose, there is no telling what the Tigers may do.
The Tigers faced St. Thomas just a week ago and led after the first quarter. St. Thomas outscored Trinity by nine in the second quarter and held on to the lead for the rest of the game. Despite that, Trinity refused to lie down, coming within two points of tying the game. However, in the fourth quarter, Trinity took offensive risks that allowed St. Thomas to pull away and win by 16. Without a different result today, Trinity’s senior guards, Josie Napoli and Bailey Timmons, will hang up the maroon for the last time tonight.
If Napoli and Timmons spur their team to that different result, McMurry University is next. Trinity fell to the War Hawks twice this year, first at home on Jan. 10 in a game that was tied after the first quarter, but saw Trinity buried in the middle two quarters at a depth of 12 points and eventually losing by eight. The game in Abilene on Jan. 24 was closer, but McMurry held on to win by seven points. The first quarter cost the Tigers that game, as in the three remaining quarters the Tigers were only outscored by one point.
There’s a saying in sports that it is hard to beat a team thrice. If McMurry fails to do so, Trinity could play the University of the Ozarks, Texas Lutheran University or No. 21 Colorado College in the final. The Ozarks are the only team in the tournament that Trinity beat, as their unbelievable 22-3 second quarter put them in the driver’s seat on their way to the 13-point win on Jan. 31. TLU beat Trinity twice, first in Seguin on Feb. 7, when Trinity outscored them in every quarter but the first, then in San Antonio, on Valentine’s Day, when TLU outscored Trinity in every quarter but the first.
Colorado College, 15-1 in conference play, is the most likely of the three to make the final. CC against TU would be a rematch of last year’s SCAC final, but also of Feb. 23’s game in Colorado Springs, where Trinity lost by 17. Trinity was outscored each quarter but performed better as the game went on.
Tournament games aren’t decided by regular season results though. Last year, Trinity women’s basketball won the SCAC title with a first round bye, but the men’s team lost despite having a bye. They know how to play in big games, having only lost to No. 13 Hardin-Simmons University by four and No. 3 Illinois Wesleyan University by three in overtime. They had their moments against SCAC tournament teams, but they suffered from inconsistent play quarter-to-quarter.
If the reigning three-time SCAC champion Tigers can put together a complete four-quarter performance, they could become the team that no one wants to play. They only have to do it three times to win the championship. With tip-off Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. against St. Thomas, it’s time to find out how dangerous a cornered Tiger can be.
