News Release

San Antonio, Tx. — The Trinity men's basketball team erased a 12-point deficit with one minute left in the game to beat the University of Dallas 65-63 on Saturday night.

Trinity (14-3) hit 5-6 three-pointers in the final minute of play to vault themselves to victory. Jason Morris hit his sixth three-pointer of the night as time expired to give the Tigers the victory.

As the clock wound under five minutes, Trinity trailed by six points (42-48), but could not get any closer to the tough Crusaders team that controlled the game for all but two minutes in the second half. After two free throws pushed the lead to eight points, Trinity went cold from beyond the arc, missing their next four three-point shots.

During that time, Dallas hit four more free throws to make the lead 12 points (56-44) with under two minutes to play.
After another missed three-pointer, the Tigers got the offensive rebound, and then Morris took the game over. He hit the first of what would be five three-pointers in the final two minutes of the game. Heading into the final two minutes, Morris had scored just four points in the game, hitting 1-2 threes and 1-2 from the foul line. When the game ended, he had 19 points and five rebounds, finishing 6-7 from behind the line.

After Morris's first of his three-point flurry, the Tigers fouled and sent Blake Guyton to the line for the third straight Dallas possession. He hit his fifth and sixth straight free throws of the night to push the lead back to 11 points at 58-47. After a timeout, Morris hit another three to cut the lead to eight, and Guyton broke free in the backcourt for a long pass and an easy bucket to push the lead back to 10 points (60-50) with 1:15 to go.

On Trinity's next possession, Peter Murray missed a three-pointer and the Tigers were forced to foul with 1:02 to play. After Dallas hit two more free throws, the lead was 12 and seemed to be too much to overcome. But seconds later, Morris gave the ball to Chad Stroberg in the corner, who promptly hit a clutch shot to cut the lead to nine.

But, the Tigers still had to foul, sending the Crusaders to the line once again with 50 seconds remaining, and Dallas was 10-10 from the line in the second half at that point.
Two missed free throws later, Murray had another three-pointer bounce off the rim, but Price Onken grabbed the rebound, and dished to Morris for another three-point basket with 42 seconds left (56-62). After a Trinity timeout, Dallas threw the ball in, and trying to avoid taking another foul, threw a dangerous pass downcourt. James Lake intercepted the ball, and called a timeout with 39 seconds left just before losing his balance and stepping out of bounds.

Who gets the ball? Morris, of course, who hits again from long-range to cut the lead to just three points (59-62) with 35 seconds left. After getting the ball down the court, Dallas temporarily lost control of the ball, and

Trinity forced a jump ball and a turnover with under 30
seconds to play. The Tigers took their time on this possession, and Onken found Stroberg from beyond the arc, tying the game (62-62) with 17 seconds remaining.

It still wasn't over, though, as Stroberg was called for a push on the inbounds play, putting Guyton (6-6 FT) on the line for Dallas. Amazingly, he made just one of two, missing the first foul shot. Instead of calling a timeout, the Tigers decided to play this one out. Morris was ready to call his own number once again, but had to give the ball up to Onken. Onken couldn't find an open shot, drove to the baseline, and was cut off again. Morris came open on the wing, spotted up with three seconds to go, and dropped in his second buzzer-beater of the year to win it for Trinity.

Shane Lungwitz led all players with 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Guyton finished the game with 22 points. Both Crusaders played all 40 minutes in the game.

Lake and Shane Fitts were the only other Tiger players in double-figures, scoring 11 points each. Five Trinity players had five rebounds to lead the team, while Stroberg's four assists were the game-high.

Trinity trailed 22-28 at halftime, and never seemed to get themselves going, despite a fairly good defensive effort. The Crusaders led by as many as eight in the first half, even though the team shot just 30% (9-30) from the field. Trinity shot over 40% (9-22) in the period, but Dallas made more three-pointers and free throws to build the lead. The Tigers were 1-9 from three-point range in the first half.

The Tigers will travel to Hendrix and Rhodes next weekend in SCAC action. Trinity is 5-1 in conference play this season, tied for the league lead.