Trinity Bible College sprinted to a 73-64 win over Presentation College in college men's basketball on Tuesday at the Strode Center.
The basketball game resembled a track meet right from the opening tip. The two teams combined to take three field goal attempts every minute.
"We want to make it a track meet," said Trinity Bible men's coach Jordan Nowell. "We want to get up and down. We want to make sure that they don't know where we're coming from. We're really short. Rebounding is an issue. We do rebounding drills every day."
The first half ended at 37-all. The biggest Lions lead was four points, and the home team Saints led by just two points. The score was tied nine times and the lead changed hands six times.
In the second half, the score was tied for the 12th and last time in the game at 62-62 with four minutes remaining after PC's Anthony Hendricks stole the ball and went the distance for a layup. The Lions would outscore the home team 11-2 down the stretch.
"Sometimes they don't run as much as I want them to. Tonight (Tuesday) they did well. We executed in the last five minutes. I called a timeout and challenged them to close the game. We haven't been closing games well, but we closed well tonight," said Nowell.
Presentation committed a turnover and both teams missed field goals. At the two-minute mark, AJ Anthony hit one of two free throws to give Trinity Bible a 63-62 lead.
"For most of the game, we played OK," said PC men's coach Jeremy Reigle. "We were too loose with the ball, especially down the stretch. You have to value every possession. Every possession counts, especially in a back-and-forth game like this. Defensively, we didn't get stops when we needed to."
Once again, the Saints missed a field goal and the Lions grabbed up the defensive rebound. With 1 minute 20 seconds left in the game, Nick Lentz pushed the TBC lead to 65-62 with a field goal.
PC pulled to within one point at 65-64 with one minute remaining on a driving layup by Chaz Haymond. The Lions connected on eight free throws in the closing seconds. Presentation missed three fields in that span.
"Their guards are good and really push it. Our guards like to push. They were just better tonight," said Reigle. "They did a nice job defensively and in the second half, they took away Darrell Farr. We just didn't get him the ball in the right spots. Credit Trinity Bible. They played a heck of a game."
Trinity Bible was led by Miguel Rosario with 26 points. Anthony followed with 18 and Barry Bighorn chipped in with 13. Lentz pulled down nine rebounds.
For Presentation College, Haymond topped the Saints with 21 points, followed by Farr with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Quincy Davis added 11 points and Hendricks corralled 11 rebounds.
The two colleges, which are just 40 miles apart on U.S. Highway 281, are in the process of developing an athletic rivalry. PC won both men's basketball games last season.
"We need to be more competitive in this rivalry," said Nowell. "Tonight, we took a big step forward. The girls' team has gotten more competitive the last few years, and now we've been more competitive. We've played close games before, but we haven't closed them out. With the addition of football, this (Trinity Bible-Presentation) will really turn in to a rivalry."
A whole section of TBC fans made the trip south to the game.
"I love our crowd," said Nowell. "They will travel to the ends of the earth for us. They love to be a part of the basketball game. The kids love playing in front of them and they energize us."
The two teams will meet again on Jan. 25 at Trinity Bible.
"It's a close school and the games are always close," said Reigle. "They came on our court and beat us. If it wasn't a rivalry before, it definitely is now."
Next on the schedule is an identical opponent for both teams. TBC and PC both play at Valley City State. Presentation plays the Vikings on Thursday and Trinity Bible College will take on Valley City State on Friday.
TRINITY BIBLE (6-7): AJ Anthony 7-11 3-4 18, Pete Enos 1-4 0-0 2, Miguel Rosario 6-11 10-11 26, Nick Lentz 4-12 0-0 8, Barry Bighorn 5-10 3-3 13, David Rohrbach 1-3 0-0 2, Cameron Martell 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 26-55 16-18 73.
PRESENTATION COLLEGE (4-3): Derek Hahn 1-9 0-0 3, Darrell Farr 7-13 2-2 16, Chaz Haymond 8-13 2-2 21, Anthony Hendricks 3-11 0-0 6, Quincy Davis 5-10 1-3 11, Damian Salais 2-6 0-1 4, Terry Strong 1-6 0-0 3, Bryce Showalter 0-1 0-0 0, Travis Cleveland 0-0 0-0 0, Vladimir Charlitte 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-70 5-8 64.
Halftime score - Tied at 37. 3-point field goals - Trinity Bible 5-12 (Anthony 1-3, Enos 0-2, Rosario 4-4, Bighorn 0-1, Rohrbach 0-2); Presentation 5-20 (Hahn 1-3, Haymond 3-7, Hendricks 0-1, Davis 0-3, Salais 0-2, Strong 1-3, Showalter 0-1). Fouled out - None. Total fouls - Trinity Bible 12; Presentation 20. Rebounds - Trinity Bible 35 (Lentz 9); Presentation 36 (Hendricks 11, Farr 11). Turnovers - Trinity Bible 19; Presentation 17. Assists - Trinity Bible 16 (Anthony 5, Enos 5); Presentation 14 (Hendricks 6). Steals - Trinity Bible 7 (Anthony 3); Presentation 9 (Hendricks 5). Blocked shots - Trinity Bible 1 (Bighorn 1); Presentation 0. Officials - Mark Riggs, Todd Riggs, Reggie Jackson.