Men's Basketball

January 17, 2009

Tigers Beat Rhodes to Win 13th Straight Game Saturday

Memphis, Tennessee - The Tiger men's basketball team won its 13th straight game on Saturday night, holding off a late comeback to beat Rhodes College 83-77.

Trinity (14-1, 6-0) hit 17-30 (56.7%) from the field in the first half, powering its way to a 49-31 halftime lead.  In the second half, the fortunes changed as Rhodes hit 17-30 from the floor and the Tigers hit 37% (10-27) of its shots.  Trinity did score 10-12 from the foul line, though, including 6-6 in the final 14 seconds.

The Tigers opened the game with a 19-3 run that saw the visitors score the first 12 points of the game.  After slowing Trinity down for a stretch, Rhodes then fell victim to a 20-1 run that gave the Tigers a 32-point advantage with 4:10 to play in the half.

Rhodes scored 14 unanswered to finish the first half, then continued that run with 10 straight in the second to make it a 24-0 run that dropped the lead to single digits.

Trinity finally recovered and pushed the lead back to 19 with just over eight minutes to play, but Rhodes scored 17 of the next 20 points to make it 71-66 four minutes later.  The Lynx got to within four (73-69) with just under three minutes left, but the Tigers were able to hold off the home team down the stretch.

Jonathan Lewis scored 17 points to lead Trinity to the win, hitting 6-10 from the field and 3-3 from the foul line.  Lewis also five rebounds and hit 2-3 from distance in his 21 minutes of action.

Dwight Lutz came off the bench with 14 points on 4-8 shooting (all three-pointers), tying his career high.  Luke Caldarera had 13 points in the game, while Patrick Robinson added nine - including two free throws in the final seven seconds that put the game away for good.

Charles Houston and B.J. Moon both chipped in with eight points and five assists, and Houston also had a game-high 12 rebounds for the Tigers.

Cory Smith finished with 25 points for Rhodes, hitting 4-7 three-pointers and adding six assists.  Nathan Ollie came off the bench with 14 points, while Andyshea Saberioon chipped in with 12 points and six assists.

Trinity returns home next weekend to take on Sewanee and Oglethorpe on Friday and Sunday, respectively.  The Tigers remain atop the SCAC West Division standings with their 6-0 conference record.