Tigers Suffer Lopsided Defeat to Open Tournament Play

San Antonio - The Illinois Wesleyan Titans beat the Trinity University Tigers 96-67 Monday in the opening of the Trinity-Southwestern Holiday Classic in Sams Gym.

Trinity (2-6) concludes the event with a 4 p.m. game Tuesday against Dominican (Ill). Southwestern was a 79-54 winner over Dominican in Monday's first game.

Tiger junior forward Luke Caldarera of Houston (Katy Taylor) led the team with 17 points, shooting 8-13 from the field. Caldarera went 1-1 in 3-pointers, along with picking up two rebounds, one assist, and a steal. Sophomore forward Gil Melchior was close behind, with 16 points. Melchior shot 3-7 from the field, made 1-3 beyond the arc, and sank 9-10 free throws. He grabbed four rebounds, and made one steal.

Senior center Peter Garatoni of San Antonio (MacArthur) led the Tigers in rebounds, with seven, and had a team-best three assists. Garatoni scored seven points. Bart Taylor, a senior guard from San Antonio (St. Mary's Hall), contributed six points, two assists and two steals. Senior guard Michael Tobolowsky of Dallas (Greenhill School) also made two steals, along with four points.

Illinois Wesleyan led 56-33 at halftime. Trinity started the game with a 10-2 run, and kept the game close, as the lead changed. The Tigers' last lead of the game was at 9:06 in the first half, as Trinity led 24-22. After an extended run by the Titans, Trinity could get no closer than 17 points in the game. Both teams had a strong shooting first half, as the Titans hit 56 percent and the Tigers made 54 percent of their shots. A big difference occurred in the second half, as the Titans shot 68 percent, to the Tigers' 33 percent.

The Titans (8-2) were paced by Jordan Zimmer's 28 points, and Sean Johnson scored 15. Ryan Connolly registered a double-double, with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Trinity shot 42 percent from the field in the game, to 61 percent for Illinois Wesleyan. The Titans hit 48 percent in 3-pointers, compared to 18 percent for the Tigers. Illinois Wesleyan also led 42-25 in rebounding.