December 16, 2004
Trinity Loses Second Straight to Being Tournament
San Antonio - The Trinity University Tiger men's basketball team opened play at the University of Incarnate Word Papa John's Holiday Classic with a 53-59 loss to Division II's sixth-ranked Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
Trinity (3-4) led 26-23 at the half, but a late surge put the Bulldogs on top for good to continue the team's best start ever (10-0). The Tigers led by 14 points early after beginning the game with a 20-6 run. Southwestern Oklahoma then went on its own run to tie the game at 22-22, but Trinity was able to pull ahead to end the half.
In the second half, the Tigers opened up a seven-point lead before the Bulldogs scored seven straight points for the second tie of the game at 15:33. With 15:08 left, Southwestern Oklahoma followed two Tiger free throws with a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game. With 2:56 remaining, the teams were in their eighth tie of the game at 53-53, but Southwestern Oklahoma scored the final six points to close out the game.
Ike Smith and Lonnie Cooks led all players with 16 points each for Southwestern Oklahoma. Smith also added six rebounds and six steals for the Bulldogs, while Jon Gunn had seven rebounds and three assists.
Chad Stroberg led the Tigers with 14 points, while Jason Morris scored 12 points and five rebounds. Peter Murray chipped in with nine points, and added six rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Andy Bates and Sean Devins each added eight points.
Trinity will face NAIA Division II Newman (KS) University - ranked 14th nationally - tomorrow in continued tournament action. The Tigers will then break for the holidays until December 29-30 at the Southwestern/Trinity Holiday Classic Tournament in Georgetown, Texas.