Trinity (12-4, 5-1) led 45-39 at the half after hitting 17-28 (60.7%) from the field in the opening 20 minutes. The Tigers cooled off in the second half, while Rhodes heated up and nearly erased a lead that opened up to as many as 13 points in the first few minutes, and then back up to 12 late in the period.
Rhodes rattled off three straight points to open the second, Trinity scored eight unanswered to take their largest lead at 55-42. The Lynx would not go away all night, though, and kept coming back to make a game of it.
After Rhodes cut the lead to four (58-54) with 11:21 to play, the Tigers used a 9-1 run to pull ahead by 12 and seemingly put the final touches on a game that had just over eight minutes remaining. With 6:01 left, Trinity still held a 12-point lead, but Rhodes went on a 15-5 run that made it a two-point game with less than two minutes left to play.
The Tigers hit 9-10 from the free throw line down the stretch, holding off Rhodes and sealing the win. One of the biggest plays, though was off of Trinity's only missed foul shot with 46 seconds to go. Ross Burt pulled down the offensive rebound after the miss, and Trinity ran off nearly 20 more seconds before Rhodes could foul. Burt knocked down two free throws to make it a five-point lead (81-76), and Trinity had virtually sealed the victory.
Burt finished with a game-high 25 points, hitting 3-5 three-pointers and 4-5 from the line. Burt also had five rebounds - including three on the offensive glass.
James Lake scored a career-high 16 points, hitting 5-9 from the field (2-4 from distance) and a perfect 4-4 from the line. Lake also had five boards and three assists.
Brandon York came off the bench to score 13 points (6-9 from the foul line), while Andy Bates chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Jay Riola led the Tigers with eight rebounds, also scoring nine points, and Mitch Walker dished out a team-best five assists.
Matthew Jakes led the Lynx with 19 points, while Rami Almefty was close behind with 18 points and five assists. Joey Daley hit 6-11 shots - including 3-4 threes - for 15 points and a team-best eight boards.
Trinity, currently leading the SCAC standings, will host Hendrix on Sunday afternoon. The Warriors come to town after a narrow defeat at the hands of SCAC co-leader Southwestern.