Men's Basketball

November 27, 2008

Caldarera's Last Shot Lifts Trinity Pasts Olivet in OT

San Antonio - Tiger men's basketball player Luke Caldarera hit another last-second shot on Thursday night, lifting Trinity past Olivet College in a 63-61 overtime win on Thanksgiving night.

Trinity (3-1) trailed 30-32 at the half, despite opening the game on a 14-2 run.  Olivet cut into the lead with eight unanswered points, then finally tied the game 24-24 with just over three minutes left in the first period.

In the second half, Olivet scored seven straight points to break a 34-34 tie and looked to take full control of the game.  The Tigers kept chipping away, though, never letting the visitors pull too far ahead.  A late 5-0 run by Trinity gave the team a brief lead, but Olivet took it right back on its next possession.

B.J. Moon then converted on a three-point play with 1:52 remaining to make it a 57-55 lead for the Tigers.  Trinity missed two potential game-winning shots in the final 68 seconds, forcing overtime for the second time in four games for the Tigers.

Neither team managed much offense in the extra period, as Olivet took nearly two minutes to finally tie the game at 61-61.  The Tigers then missed a shot with less than a minute remaining, followed by an Olivet miss with 32 seconds left.

Trinity called timeout, then worked the clock down for one final shot.  Caldarera, who hit a buzzer-beater to force overtime against sixth-ranked UW-Stevens Point last weekend, then hit a baseline jump shot with three seconds left to down Olivet. 

Dwight Lutz set it all up, though, throwing an off-balance, diving pass from underneath the basket to find the open Caldarera.  It was the only assist of the game for Lutz.

Caldarera led Trinity with 15 points and 10 boards off the bench, while Moon hit 3-4 threes for 12 points and a team-best four assists.  Charles Houston had seven points and eight rebounds to go with six steals in the game, giving him five or more steals in three of the team's four games this year.  Caldarera also had four steals for the Tigers.

Brandon McClary finished with 15 points to lead Olivet, while Joel Kerns and Michael McClary both finished in double figures.

Trinity wraps up its part in the San Antonio Shootout with a Saturday night game against Whitman College.  Next weekend, the Tigers hit the road to open conference play at Colorado College and Austin College.