Trinity (3-0) led 45-31 at the half, but had to hold off a hot-shooting Howard Payne team in the second half to earn the win.
After hitting just 33.3% in the first 20 minutes, the Yellow Jackets came out on fire after the break, hitting 57.1% (20-35) from the field. The Tigers shot over 40% in both halves, knocking down 50% in the second period.
The Tigers used a 6-0 spurt at the end of the first half to turn an eight point margin into a 14-point lead at halftime. Howard Payne slowly cut into the lead, getting to within five points (56-61) with 12:21 to play, but Trinity responded with a 9-4 run to push the lead back to double digits.
The visitors, who were delayed over 90 minutes because a traffic accident in San Antonio closed the highway, had one more run in them, cutting the lead to four points with 5:14 to play (78-82). The Tigers responded one more time with a 9-2 run to finally put the game away.
Senior Ross Burt, who set and tied his career high with 21 points in the first two games of the year, established a new personal record with 30 points on 10-19 shooting on Tuesday. Burt nailed 8-8 from the foul line, collected six rebounds, and handed out three assists.
Andy Bates and Brandon York both added 17 points for Trinity, hitting a combined 11-19 from the floor. York added three assists, while Bates grabbed four rebounds.
James Lake and Jay Riola both finished with double-digit rebound totals, leading the team to a 48-31 edge on the glass. Riola led the Tigers with 12 rebounds, while Lake pulled in 10 boards - nine of which were offensive rebounds. Lake also scored eight points and had four assists.
Mitch Walker had another solid game, scoring nine points to go with five rebounds and four assists. Casey Hill scored seven points off the bench, hitting 4-4 from the free throw line.
Kendrick Johnson led Howard Payne with 17 points, while Matt Zinser and Eldrick Spivey both hit for 11. Spivey hit 4-7 from the field - including 3-5 three-pointers - off the bench for the Yellow Jackets.
Trinity will face Otterbein and Cal. Tech. over the holiday weekend, heading to Southwestern for the Southwestern/Trinity Thanksgiving Classic. The Tigers return home to face Southwestern in the SCAC opener on Thursday, December 1.