Men's Basketball

December 16, 2006

Tigers Hold off Hardin-Simmons Saturday Night

Abilene, Texas - The Trinity men's basketball team held a double-digit halftime lead, but had to hold off a late rally by Hardin-Simmons University to earn a 67-60 win.

Trinity (4-5) led 44-27 at the half, then held off the hometown Cowboys down the stretch by making three of the final four free throws.

The Tigers opened up a lead of more than 20 points early in the second half, giving the home team a bit of a wake-up call.  Hardin-Simmons used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 16 with less than 10 minutes remaining, but Trinity kept the lead at 16 for the next few minutes.  Hardin-Simmons then cut the lead to 10 points with 4:20 left, making another 6-0 run to bring them within striking distance.  The Cowboys got to within five, but could get no closer against the Tigers.

Brandon York came off the bench to lead Trinity with 17 points in the game, including a pair of free throws in the final seconds.  York hit 5-10 field goals - including 2-3 from three-point range - and 5-6 free throws.

Patrick Robinson also had another solid scoring effort with 15 points on 5-8 shooting.  Robinson nailed 4-5 three-pointers and pulled in three rebounds.

Casey Hill just missed a double-double, pulling in a career-high 12 rebounds to go with his nine points.  B.J. Moon had a career-best seven assists, as well as grabbing four rebounds - all on the offensive glass.

Mike Gilb and Charles Houston each chipped in with eight points, and while Gilb finished with seven rebounds, Houston had a team-best three steals.

Zach Pickelman led Hardin-Simmons with 16 points in the game, knocking down 12-16 from the foul line, and grabbing eight rebounds.  Jean Mardochee led the Cowboys with nine boards and four assists.

Trinity hit 46% from the field in the game - including a deadly 57% (8-14) from distance.  The Tiger defense held Hardin-Simmons to just 30% shooting and 22% (6-27) from three-point range. 

Trinity will have off until the end of this month when the team travels to Georgetown for the Southwestern/Trinity Holiday Classic Tournament (Dec. 29-30).  The Tigers return home on Sunday, December 31 to take on Amherst College at 4:00 p.m.

51-29 with 15:15...6-0 HSU run...57-41 with 6:57...6-0 HSU run