Men's Basketball

February 22, 2008

Tigers Beat Austin College to Snap Two-Game Skid

Sherman, Texas - Trinity's men's basketball team began its final weekend of play in the regular season with a 65-49 win over Austin College, snapping the team's two-game losing streak.

Trinity (16-8, 8-6) held a slim 32-28 lead at the half, despite being outshot by Austin.  The Tigers hit just 9-24 (37.5%) from the field, but did manage to nail 6-11 (54.5%) from three-point range and 8-10 (80%) from the foul line in the period. 

In the second half, Trinity actually dropped a bit in its overall shooting percentage, but its defense was the real key in the second half, holding Austin to less than 30% shooting and only 21 total points.  Overall, the Tigers hit 10-18 (55.6%) from three-point range to sink the home team.

Trinity did lead by as many as seven in the first half, but Austin was able to come back and even take a brief lead (28-27) with 1:36 left.  The Tigers scored the final five points to take the halftime lead, but couldn't put the home team away until a 7-0 run turned an eight-point lead into a 54-39 game.

Dwight Lutz led the Tigers with a career-high 14 points off the bench, while Luke Caldarera also came off the bench to score 12 in the game.  Lutz hit 4-5 three-pointers and grabbed three rebounds in his 18 minutes, while Caldarera hit 5-8 from the floor and pulled in six boards.

Charles Houston returned to the lineup with eight points, five rebounds, and three steals; and Patrick Robinson chipped in with eight points.  Barrett Koch led the team with seven rebounds, while Jonathan Lewis finished with six points and six rebounds.

Kola Alade led all scorers with 24 points for Austin College, while Chris Sturtevant added 10 points and six rebounds for the home team.

Trinity concludes the regular season schedule with a game tomorrow night at Colorado College.  The Tigers have already secured a spot in the SCAC Tournament as the West Division's No. 2 seed.