San Antonio - The Tiger men's basketball team earned a 70-61 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference win over Southwestern University on Wednesday night, tying for the top spot in the West Division standings.
Trinity (12-8, 7-4) has now won three consecutive SCAC games, which followed a three-game skid in conference play.
Southwestern actually jumped out with five straight points in the game, and led most of the first half. The Tigers pulled ahead briefly with 9:35 to go until the break, then the two teams tied things up 19-19 with 7:37 to play.
After two inside buckets by both teams - including the first of two dunks in the game by Trinity's Jonathan Wilt - Southwestern and Trinity put on a three-point shooting display.
Joe Shotland scored 13 consecutive Tiger points, trading threes with two different Southwestern players. Shotland's fourth three-pointer in a span of 2:32 was followed by a free throw to put the Tigers up 34-30 with just under three minutes to play.
The Pirates didn't score in the final 3:31 of the half, and the Tigers added another bucket for a six-point halftime advantage.
Shotland finished with a game-high 19 points off the bench, connecting on 6-7 from downtown in just 16 minutes of action.
After a little more than five minutes elapsed in the second half, Trinity had pushed the lead to 13 points on an 11-4 run. The Tigers then answered eight straight Southwestern points by scoring 14 of the next 18, and taking a 61-46 lead with 7:04 to play. Trinity was able to hold on for the win from there, with the final score being the closest Southwestern got the rest of the game.
Heath Hopson also scored in double figures for the Tigers, coming off the bench with 12 points and seven rebounds. Robert Kitzinger chipped in with eight points in 14 minutes, while Wilt had nine points and seven rebounds - tying Hopson for the team lead. William Young finished with six assists, while Ryan Beall handed out four.
Demetrice Spearman hit 5-9 three-pointers for a team-best 15 points for Southwestern, while Nick Atlee added 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench.
Trinity and Southwestern will tangle once more this week, though the next meeting will be in Georgetown, Texas, on Saturday, February 4. Trinity returns home for games against Hendrix and Colorado College on February 10 and 12.