Trinity Drops Saturday Night Game at Birmingham Southern

Birmingham, Ala. - The Birmingham-Southern Panthers beat the Trinity Tigers men 82-73 Saturday night in a SCAC game at Bill Battle Coliseum.

Trinity, which split games on its conference road trip (beating Rhodes 62-51 Friday at Memphis, Tenn.), now stands at 9-10 and 6-5 SCAC. Birmingham-Southern, which scored a season-high in a Tiger opponent's points, improved to 16-1 and 10-1 SCAC.

Tiger first-year forward Robert Kitzinger (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) scored a game-best 25 points, the highest total in his early career. Kitzinger shot 8-14 from the field, 5-9 in 3-point range, and sank 4-4 free throws.

Sophomore forward Heath Hopson (Lampasas, Texas/Lampasas) added 14 points (5-8 shooting) and a team-leading five rebounds. Junior forward Gil Melchior (Luxembourg) made 3-3 of his shots and scored seven points. Senior forward Luke Caldarera (Houston/Katy Taylor) contributed six points, four rebounds, three steals, and two assists.

The first half was tightly played as the Panthers led 39-38. Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field. But BSC hit 58 percent in the second half, and Trinity shot 32 percent. The second half was nip-and-tuck, as the Panthers led 46-45 at 12:31. BSC then pulled out
to an 11-point lead (63-52), with 7:09 remaining. Trinity did get as close as five points (72-77), at 1:47, but the Panthers outscored the Tigers 5-1 to capture the game.

Four Panthers scored in double figures, led by Zac Richards' 13 points.

Trinity shot 42.9 percent (24-56) from the field, and Birmingham-Southern hit 55.3 percent (26-47). The Panthers held a 29-26 advantage in rebounding.

The Tigers wrap up their regular-season road schedule with two SCAC games next weekend. Trinity travels to Jackson, Miss., next Friday for a game with Millsaps, and to Conway, Ark., Saturday for a meeting with Hendrix. Tip off is at 8 p.m. each day.