Men's Basketball

March 11, 2005

Tigers Advance to Elite Eight With Overtime Win

Trinity (25-6) trailed 28-29 at the half after Hanover hit a buzzer-beater three-point shot to take the lead at the break.  Hanover jumped out to an 11-3 lead early on in the game, scoring 11 straight points to pull ahead.  The Tigers answered with an 18-4 run, but Hanover tied the game at 26-26 with 2:37 remaining. 

Hanover opened a six-point (40-34) advantage just minutes into the second half, but Trinity scored seven straight points to pull ahead by one, and then scored eight of the next 10 to take a 49-42 lead with 6:42 left in the game.  The Tigers then led 54-46 with 2:41 to go, but Hanover scored nine unanswered points to take the lead with 52 seconds left.

Trinity then had a layup blocked with 35 seconds to go, but Sean Devins pulled in the offensive rebound, and was fouled with 33 seconds left.  Devins made 1-2 from the foul line to tie the game, and Hanover's final shot was blocked by Ross Burt to send it to overtime.

In overtime, Trinity went on a 10-2 run to start, hitting four of its first five shots.  Hanover cut the lead to four with 57 seconds to go, but this time, the Tigers were able to hold off the Panthers by knocking down 4-4 from the foul line in the final 20 seconds.

The Tigers were led by senior Peter Murray's career-best 25 points, scoring 16 of those points after halftime.  Murray hit 11-18 shots and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the game.

Sean Devins scored 14 points and pulled in seven rebounds, also recording four blocks.  Jason Morris finished with 12 points and four assists, while Chad Stroberg chipped in with eight points - hitting 5-5 from the free throw line.

Morris moved into fifth on Trinity's all-time scoring list, totaling 1,435 career points.  With six more points, Morris will move past Tiger assistant coach Quintin Mason for fourth place on the list.  Morris also reached 300 career assists, becoming just the third player in school history to reach the milestone.

Trinity shot 44.6% from the field for the game, while Hanover hit 40.4% from the floor.  The Tigers nailed 5-10 three-point shots, while Hanover was 8-25 (32%) from distance. 

The Tigers will face hosting UW-Stevens Point in the NCAA Quarterfinals tomorrow night.  The Pointers are the defending national champions.