(Story courtesy of Trinity University)
BELTON, Texas - The Trinity University Tiger men's basketball team had its run in the NCAA Playoffs end with a 63-54 loss to seventh-ranked Whitworth University on Saturday night. Box Score
After a hot-shooting first half against hosting Mary Hardin-Baylor last night, Trinity struggled shooting the ball all night - especially from three-point range. The Tigers finished the game at 38% shooting overall, and 22.7% shooting from beyond the arc.
The Trinity defense held Whitworth to under 34% for the game, and both teams hit the same number of field goals (19). Whitworth hit 11 threes (to just five for Trinity), and connected on 15-18 at the foul line. The Tigers hit all 10 of their free throws - all of which came in the second half.
Whitworth started the game on a 15-5 run, and led by as many as 11 points in the first half of play. The Tigers never got closer than seven after that initial push by the Pirates, and Whitworth led 33-23 at the break.
After halftime, Whitworth came out on fire, using a 13-2 run to push the lead to 21 points with less than four minutes gone by in the second half. Trinity quickly answered with 11 straight points to cut the lead back to 10, then almost immediately put together an 8-0 run that cut the lead to just three points (47-44) with 8:36 to play.
The lead remained three points a few minutes later, but then Whitworth made its push down the stretch, scoring 10 unanswered points to get the lead back to double digits (60-47) with less than four minutes remaining, and effectively seal the win.
The Tigers hit just 1-9 from the field over the final 6:46 of the game, and the only made shot came with less than 30 seconds left in the game.
Zach Lambert led Trinity with 14 points, while Jonathan Wilt finished with 10 points, and Matt Selling came off the bench with 11 for the Tigers. Selling hit 4-6 from the field - including 3-4 from three-point range.
Ryan Beall collected his 300th career assist in the game, finishing with five assists, four points, and four rebounds. He is one of just four players in school history with 300 or more assists in a career.
Idris Lasisi lead all players with 22 points for Whitworth, connecting on 6-11 three-pointers. Felix Friedt had 12 points and eight rebounds, picking up most of those by hitting 10-12 from the foul line. Jack Loofburrow came off the bench to score 13 points for the Pirates.
Trinity ends its season with a 21-9 overall record, and tonight's loss snaps its 13-game winning streak. The team's 21 wins are tied for the sixth-most in school history.
