Baltimore, MD Weekend Wrap-Up

The Trinity Tigers covered nearly the entire United States last week, returning from Tacoma, WA on Monday and then traveling to Baltimore, MD Thursday for the 2013 D3Hoopsville Classic hosted by Stevenson University. The Classic brought together ten of the top teams across the country - a holiday gift for the true DIII fan. The Tigers played two games - Keystone College on Friday and Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday.

Keystone came out early doing what they do well - making 3 pointers. Our guys showed tremendous poise not allowing those 3's to take us out of our gameplan. Instead, the Tigers dug in and turned up their defensive efforts, while also showing off their shooting ability in the second half. We pulled away towards the end of the game, winning 82-67, but it was a close match for the majority of the 40 minutes. With a 17 point outing, senior guard Robert Kitzinger became Trinity's 24th player in history to reach 1,000 career points. We are excited to see where he finishes up after a great senior year!

On Saturday, the Tigers took on a very good Ohio Wesleyan team that was upset the night before. The first half was a chess match, as no team could really get it going on the offensive end. Coming out of half time in a tie ball game, the Bishops of OWU started to make, what felt like, everything and came away with a 64-75 victory over our Tigers. For his outstanding performance over the weekend, offensively and defensively, senior forward Jonathan Wilt was named to the All-Classic Team.

It was a first class event, thanks to the efforts of the Stevenson University and D3Hoopsville staff. Our student-athletes enjoyed the experience of competing against NCAA Tournament-quality talent, as well as seeing some other great teams battle on the court. While flying out of (a very cold) Baltimore with a weekend split wasn't ideal, it was another opportunity for our group to realize what it takes to win at the highest level - consistent effort and focus.

The Tigers were able to make it down to the Inner Harbor for dinner Friday night and enjoy the sites of Baltimore.

Tacoma, WA Weekend Wrap-Up

This past weekend, the Tigers traveled to Tacoma, Washington to participate in the Doug McArthur Classic hosted by the University of Puget Sound. Flying up Thursday and returning yesterday, the trip proved to be a roller coaster experience, which the team learned a great deal.

On Thursday, the team flew in to Seattle airport and drove down to Tacoma. Along the way, we stopped in for our first team meal in the Pacific Northwest...BBQ? Luckily, it was Famous Dave's and the food was terrific!

On Friday, we played our season opening game against Whitworth College. The Pirates came out making shots early and we never really got it going, dropping the game - 53-71.

Saturday proved to be a similar game, as the Tigers took on Pacific Lutheran University. Poor second half defense and another tough shooting night lead to a 49-67 defeat.

Something had to change on Sunday for the Tigers to get on the right track. The intensity and effort displayed by the Tigers was night and day in the final game against host University of Puget Sound. With a total team effort, the Tigers captured the first victory of the season - 77-56. It was a strong response to the prior two performances. A great way to finish a very competitive opening weekend of games. After Sunday's game, the Tigers were finally able to enjoy some Pacific Northwest seafood at Steamer's - a spot-on recommendation coming from our very own Coach McAdams of the Tiger Football staff.

Although it was raining all day yesterday (typical Seattle weather), the team still was able to do a little site seeing before flying out of Seattle. First, we made a quick stop by the Space Needle...

Afterwards, the Tigers enjoyed Pike Place Market and getting a cup of coffee at the first Starbucks...

Overall, the experience was positive for the Tigers. While dropping two games to start the season was not in the plans, figuring out the level of intensity and focus that is needed to achieve our goals was plainly laid out. A strong win against a good Puget Sound team, while being able to experience a different part of the country that the majority of our guys have never been, highlighted this weekend's trip to Tacoma, WA. Next up, the DIII Hoopsville Classic in Stevenson, Maryland!