Men's Basketball

February 1, 2008

Tigers Fall in Overtime to No. 11 Centre on Friday

San Antonio - The Tiger men's basketball team missed a game-winning shot at the end of regulation, then was unable to keep pace with 11th-ranked Centre College in a 77-68 overtime loss on Friday night.

Trinity (13-5, 6-3) led 34-24 at the half, but couldn't hang on against a hot-shooting Centre team in the final 25 minutes of action.  Centre shot just under 50% (17-35) from the field after the halftime break, while Trinity hit just 33% of its shots in the same time frame.

The Tigers led by as many as 17 points in the first half, but Centre closed the period with a 7-0 run to account for the halftime score.  Trinity hit two baskets early in the second to regain control, but each time the Tigers tried to put the game out of reach, Centre was able to hit just enough shots to stay close.

An 11-2 Centre run cut the lead to 53-46 with 7:59 to play in the game, which was the closest Centre had been since 9:41 remaining in the first half.  As the clock ticked under five, though, Trinity seemed to be back in command, pushing the lead back up to 11 points (62-51).

Centre responded with five straight points to make it 62-56 with 2:52 left, then Trinity made just 1-2 foul shots to set up a layup for Centre to cut the lead to five.  The Tigers answered with an easy bucket of their own, but then Centre made two straight three-pointers to cut the lead to one (65-64) with under a minute to go. 

Trinity then took advantage of a Centre lapse on defense, scoring a crucial layup with 25 seconds to play, but then Matt Nestheide slipped in a layup and drew a foul to set up a free throw that tied the game for the first time all night.  The Tigers had a shot at a game-winning basket, but Barrett Koch's short jumper was just off the rim at the buzzer.

Centre then hit the first basket of the overtime period to take its first lead of the entire game.  Trinity answered with a layup by Koch, but he missed a foul shot that would have given the Tigers the lead again.  His layup would be the final points for Trinity, as Centre outscored the home team 9-0 the rest of the way.  A three-pointer by Danny Noll with 1:46 to play gave Centre the lead for good - a shot that he hit as time expired on the shot clock.

Charles Houston led Trinity with 14 points and nine rebounds, narrowly missing his third consecutive double-double.  Houston hit 5-10 from the field and had four steals in the game.

Luke Caldarera came off the bench to add 11 points for the Tigers, including five straight points for the team at the end of regulation.  Jonathan Lewis and Dwight Lutz added nine points each, while Koch finished with eight points.

Nestheide led all scorers with 23 points on 8-11 shooting, while Thomas Britt added 16 points and four assists.  T.C. Thomason and Noll chipped in with 11 points each.

Trinity will host DePauw University tomorrow night to finish off the weekend against the top two teams in the SCAC East Division.