Men's Hoops Holds Off Trinity Late

SHERMAN, Texas – The Austin College men's basketball team led by 12 points with six minutes to play and held off a comeback bid by Trinity to come away with a 70-64 victory on Saturday evening in Hughey Gym. The 'Roos are now 12-5 overall and 2-5 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play. 

Austin College jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead before Matt Jones knocked down consecutive threes for Trinity to give the Tigers an 8-7 lead. Cedric Hudson answered with five straight points of his own to put Austin College back on top 12-10 with 12:05 left in the opening half, and the lead grew to 20-14 with 4:53 on the clock. 

Taylor Kim hit a three for Trinity to cut it to a three point game, but Austin College responded with a 10-2 run capped off by a three from Alan Sullivan to take a 30-19 lead with 1:59 remaining. Trinity would cut it to a 32-25 game, but Andres Rivera completed a four point play with just 5.7 seconds left before halftime to send the 'Roos into the locker room leading 36-25.

Trinity came out of the locker room strong with a 12-2 run to make it a 38-37 game early in the second half, but Sullivan completed a three point play and Stephen Igbinosa scored to push the Austin College lead to 42-37 with 15:07 left. The Austin College lead grew to 48-40 with 13:17 on the clock, but six straight points for the Tigers made it a 48-46 game.

Jeremy Swisher and Josh Dickerman each drilled three pointers as Austin College pushed the margin back to double digits at 62-50 with 6:19 left in the game. Trinity started to chip away at the 'Roo lead, with Matt Colliflower hitting a three and following that up with a bucket inside to make it 63-57, and after the 'Roos got it back to a seven point game with two minutes left, the Tigers got it all the way back down to 66-64 on a Brian Blum three with 31 seconds to play.

However, that's as close as things would get as Hudson and Sullivan each knocked down two free throws to seal the game for Austin College. The win is the second straight for the 'Roos and helps Austin College surpass its win total from last season.

Sullivan finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, and Hudson chipped in 12 points and nine boards. Brian Baehl finished with 11 points, six boards, and three assists, and Swisher came off the bench to score 10. Igbinosa scored nine points to go along with 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Jones and Colliflower each scored 13 points to pace the Tigers, with Jones adding four assists. Josh Ingram grabbed 13 rebounds for Trinity.

Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.