'Roo Men Fall Short in SCAC Opener

SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College men's basketball team came storming back from an early 20 point deficit to take a second half lead against visiting Trinity University, but the Tigers used a late run to put the 'Roos away 89-80 on Friday evening. The 'Roos are now 2-5 overall and 0-1 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

Jackson Rennie knocked down six three pointers on his way to a game-high 24 points in the loss for Austin College, as the 'Roos shot just 32.6% from the field compared to 50.8% for Trinity. However, Austin College forced the Tigers into 22 turnovers and held a 23-8 edge in second chance points to keep things tight. The 'Roos and Tigers traded threes to open the game, but Trinity surged ahead and made it 28-8 seven minutes into the game. Austin College battled back with a 12-1 run to trim it to a 29-20 game, but Trinity would take a 44-32 lead into halftime.

Austin College continued to chip away at the Trinity lead early in the second, and two threes from Rennie made three straight triples in the early minutes of the half to cut it to a 50-48 game with 17:33 on the clock. Tristan Dick and Jaylyn Cleamons each added a three, and two more treys from Rennie made it 61-60 with 12:22 to play. Dick added a bucket to give Austin College their first lead of the game at 62-61, and Roman Strickland would score to put the 'Roos up 64-62 with 10:24 to play. However, that would be the last lead of the game for Austin College, as Trinity responded with an 8-0 run to make it 70-64, and the margin would grow to 81-70 as the Tigers managed to put the game away in the final minutes.

Dick joined Rennie in double figures with 19 points while adding seven steals, six assists, and five rebounds, and Strickland scored 11 points while grabbing seven boards. Jason Jones just missed out on a double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds for Austin College. Chanston Goodman dished out 10 assists for the 'Roos in the loss. Tanner Brown led Trinity with 23 points, hitting 7-of-10 shots overall and 4-of-7 from long range.