Men's Basketball

December 31, 2008

Trinity Defeats SUNYIT in Final Game of 2008

San Antonio - Trinity's men's basketball team won its eighth consecutive game on Wednesday night, defeating State of New York Institute of Technology 95-85 in the final game of the 2008 calendar year.

Trinity (9-1) held a 49-33 halftime advantage after opening the game with 54.8% shooting, and holding SUNYIT to under 40% from the field.  The Tigers cooled off in the second half, and while SUNYIT shot better in the second period, the home team was too much in the end.

The Tigers led virtually the whole way, with only a 6-6 tie keeping them from being ahead for the entire 40 minutes.  Nearly every time Trinity began to pull ahead, SUNYIT would go on a run to make it close again.  The Tigers used a 16-6 run at the end of the first half to take the big lead at halftime.

That lead was pushed to 21 points early in the second half, and it seemed like Trinity would cruise the rest of the way.  A 13-1 run by SUNYIT changed that thinking, though, making it 63-54 with over 12 minutes left in the game.  The Wildcats got to within eight points, but the Tigers scored nine of the next 11 points to push the lead back to 15 points with under 10 minutes to play.

SUNYIT cut the lead to nine again a few minutes later, but another Trinity run made it 86-69 with 4:34 left, effectively sealing the win.

Trinity's B.J. Moon tied his career-high with 28 points in the game, hitting 10-16 from the field and 6-8 from three-point range.  Luke Caldarera finished with 16 points and a career-best five assists, while Jonathan Lewis chipped in with 10 points. 

Charles Houston had nine points and nine boards for the Tigers, while Patrick Robinson also finished with nine points.  Dwight Lutz led all Trinity's bench players with eight points, while Michael Tobolowsky came off the bench to pull down a career-high eight rebounds.

Diloo Brown finished with a team-high 23 points for SUNYIT, while Ajani Edwards added 22 points and a game-high seven assists.  Brown also led the team with nine rebounds.

Trinity will resume action in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference this weekend, taking on Millsaps College and Hendrix College on Friday and Saturday evenings, respectively.  The Tigers currently lead the SCAC West Division with a 2-0 record.