Men's Basketball

February 24, 2007

Trinity Topples Tournament's Top Seed in Semifinals

Memphis, Tennessee - Trinity's men's basketball team earned a thrilling 77-72 win over top seed DePauw University in the Semifinals of the SCAC Championships Tournament on Saturday night.

Trinity (77-72) led 36-30 at the half, and both teams shot over 50% in the opening period.  DePauw shot over 50% in both periods, and Trinity hit just 36% in the second half.  Trinity, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, did hit 21-29 free throws in the second half, and 25-34 overall in tonight's game.  DePauw scored just 4-10 from the foul line, though they did hit 10-27 from three-point range - compared to just 6-14 for Trinity.

Trinity was out-rebounded and out-shot in the game, but the three-time winners of the SCAC Tournament would not be denied on this night.  Trinity committed just seven turnovers compared to 19 by DePauw.

For the second straight night, Brandon York was stellar down the stretch, hitting four straight free throws in the final nine seconds to seal the victory.

After the two teams played close most of the first half, Trinity used a 14-5 run to take an 11-point advantage (32-21) with just over five minutes left in the first.  DePauw was able to cut into the lead throughout the rest of the game, but they were never able to take the lead. 

Trinity led by as many as 14 in the second half before DePauw stormed back in the final minutes.  Trinity then held a 10-point lead with just over a minute left, but again the defending conference champs would not go away.  Trinity hit 10-12 free throws in the final minute to seal the win and hold off a tough DePauw team. 

DePauw cut the lead to 75-72 with six seconds remaining, but York's free throws with four seconds left finished the scoring. 

York, who hit the game-winning layup with 1.5 seconds left in yesterday's 50-49 win over Oglethorpe, scored 12 points and handed out five assists in this game, connecting on 7-9 from the free throw line.

Charles Houston led Trinity with 14 points in the game, hitting 6-10 from the field and also recording three assists.  B.J. Moon sunk 3-6 three-pointers on his way to 11 points and five assists.  Mike Gilb also finished with 11 points and led the team with six boards.

Austin Brown, who hit last year's miracle three-point shot that lifted DePauw to the SCAC Championship, led all players with 18 points on 7-12 shooting tonight.  Mike Moore finished with 11 points and 10 assists for a double-double, and Ryan Werntz added 11 points in 15 minutes off the bench.

Trinity advances to tomorrow afternoon's SCAC Championship game against Centre College.  Centre, the No. 2 seed, beat No. 3 seed Millsaps College earlier this evening.