TLU’s Morgan Rodriguez (10.6) and Trinity’s Abby Holland (17.7) lead their respective teams in scoring heading into Friday’s SCAC matchup in San Antonio.
(San Antonio) – The Texas Lutheran men’s basketball team looks to complete a regular season sweep of rival Trinity in the first game of Friday’s Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader at Calgaard Gymnasium, while the TLU women look to avenge an earlier loss to the Tigers in the nightcap.
The TLU men head to San Antonio with a 10-6 overall record and a 7-2 SCAC mark in Mike Wacker’s fourth season as head coach. After seeing a six-game winning streak end in Saturday’s 96-92 home loss to Austin College, the Bulldogs sit second in the conference standings behind St. Thomas (8-1), but first in the race for the top seed in the SCAC tournament, because the Celts are not eligible for post-season play.
Trinity edged Colorado College 85-82 Saturday to give 21st-year head coach Pat Cunningham his 500th career win. The Tigers are 6-9 overall, 4-4 in the SCAC, and currently occupy sixth place in the conference standings.
Texas Lutheran pulled away from Trinity in the second half to win the first meeting between the teams 76-66 in Seguin on Dec. 29. Sophomore guard Jordan Lippman led the Tigers with 19 points in that contest and averages a team-high 14.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, but he’s missed Trinity’s last three games for undisclosed reasons. Sophomore guard Ben Hanley (11.3 ppg, 3.4 assists), junior guard Stephen Molina (10.5 ppg) and sophomore forward David Nickell (9.1 ppg) have picked up the slack in Lippman’s absense.
The Tigers are one of the best offensive teams in the SCAC, ranking third in scoring (76.9) and second in assists (16.6). Trinity has struggled to defend and rebound consistently, giving up the highest opponents’ scoring average in the conference (80.2) while ranking dead last in rebounding margin (-6.9), defensive rebounding percentage (.675) and offensive rebounding percentage (.234).
TLU guard Sebastian Andrade set career marks with 36 points and 18-of-23 shooting at the free throw line in Saturday’s loss to Austin College. The junior ranks fifth in the SCAC at 18.2 points per game, and overcame a 1-11 night from three-point range to notch a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double in the December win over Trinity.
Junior post Caleb Lister leads the SCAC in offensive rebounding (3.3) and ranks among the league’s top ten in scoring (14.6 – 10th) and overall rebounding (8.0 – 6th). Senior transfer Jorden Kite checks in with 12.3 points and a team-high 2.4 assists per game, while junior guard Jamir Mason has reached double figures in five straigth games to lift his season average to 9.3.
The TLU women enter the second game of Friday’s doubleheader with a 7-9 overall mark and a 5-4 record in SCAC play after Saturday’s 89-59 home loss to Austin College. The Bulldogs beat Trinity 68-62 in last year’s conference championship game, but the Tigers won the December meeting between the programs this season, 60-51 in Seguin.
Trinity owns a 10-game winning streak and the No. 13 ranking in the D3hoops.com Top 25 after crushing Colorado College 90-66 on Saturday. The Tigers are 13-2 overall and sit atop the SCAC standings with an 8-0 conference record in Cameron Hill’s eighth season as head coach. They have outscored their opponents by an average margin of 80.5 to 56.8. In addition to leading the SCAC in scoring defense and scoring margin, Trinity ranks first in field goal percentage (.456), blocked shots (5.1), assists (20.4), steals (17.0), turnover margin (+12.47), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6) and made three pointers (8.1 per game).
The Tigers’ top individual player is All-SCAC and All-Region forward Abby Holland. The senior ranks third in the conference in scoring (17.7), 10th in rebounding (6.9), and second in both field-goal percentage (.541) and steals (3.1). Junior point guard Jordan Rudd is No. 3 in the league in assists (5.0) and first in steals (3.4).
Sophomore forward Morgan Rodriguez is TLU’s only double-digit scorer, ranking 17th in the SCAC with 10.6 points per outing on 48.2 percent shooting (5th). Junior All-SCAC point guard Tara Molina is No. 2 in the conference in assists (5.1) and No. 6 in steals (1.9), while forwards Abby Hroch and Kasey Hairrell share 13th place on the rebounding list at 6.3 per game. Hroch has connected on 53.6 percent of her field goal attempts (4th). Reserve guard Heaven Dandridge ranks eighth in three-point shooting (.350), but the Bulldogs are only ninth among the league’s 10 teams in that category (.260).
Friday’s doubleheader starts with the men’s game at 5:30 p.m, and the women follow at 7:30. Both games will air live on KWED 1580-AM and Seguintoday.com. Pre-game coverage starts at 5:20.