SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The Southwestern University men's basketball team's woes continued as they struggled to get much of anything going offensively in a 77-64 loss to Trinity University on Saturday afternoon at Calgaard Gymnasium.
The Pirates shot 22 of 58 (38%) from the field and 4 of 25 (16%) from behind the arc. Southwestern also struggled from the free throw line, going 16 of 27 (59%). On the other side, Trinity shot 28 of 59 (48%) from the field, 3 of 14 (21%) from deep, and 18 of 28 (64%) at the charity stripe.
Trinity dominated the boards, 45-33 and had 34 points in the paint. Southwestern forced the Tigers into 13 turnovers while only giving it away 12 times.
It was a tough start for Southwestern and a start they could never quite recover from, falling behind 13-2 in the first five minutes of the game. The offensive woes continued early on as the Pirates only had four points through eight minutes of play.
Southwestern finally got some offense going and went on a 7-2 run late in the first half to cut the deficit down to 26-20 with five minutes to play in the half. However, Trinity closed the half on a 10-4 run and took a 36-24 lead into the break.
The Pirates found more success offensively in the second half, but could not keep up with the Tigers, who maintained their double digit lead for much of the second half. Trinity just proved to be too much in the end as they pushed their lead to as many as 22. Southwestern found some rhythm late, but it was far too late as they fell 77-64.
Sophomore Brandon Alexander paced the Pirates with 17 points on 5 of 12 shooting while sophomores Joel Martinez and Kyle Howard each added eight. Sophomores Ryan Wheeler and Jake Holmes also had seven points each. Holmes and sophomore Luke Hicks each had five boards while Howard had four assists and four rebounds. Hicks added two steals defensively.
Trinity was led by Danny Rivara with 28 points and 11 rebounds to go with two blocks while Jayden Holden added 15.
Southwestern goes to 8-14 overall and 4-7 in SCAC play. Southwestern currently sits tied for sixth in the SCAC Men's Basketball Standings and, with three games remaining, will need to finish strong to try and earn a spot in the SCAC Basketball Championships.
The Pirates will head home where they will finish the regular season on a three game home-stand beginning on Friday with a 5:30 PM tip-off against Austin College.
