Men's Basketball 2/26/2022 12:00:00 AM

Trevecca Men's Basketball | Trojans Fall Just Short on Senior Day

Box Score

NASHVILLE – The Trevecca Nazarene University men's basketball team (5-22, 2-18 Great Midwest) saw its season come to an end of Saturday's Senior Day with a 63-60 loss to Lake Erie College (13-13, 7-12 Great Midwest) in Trojan Fieldhouse.

SERIES HISTORY/NOTES

With the win, the Storm pushes their lead in the all-time series to 6-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Trevecca shot poorly early and trailed 17-7 with 9:18 left in the half. Trevecca gained some momentum outscoring the visitors 13-9 over the final minutes of the first, trailing 26-20 at the break. The Trojans were led by six from Jaylon Tharpe.

With 19:31 left, Trevecca trailed 29-23. The Strom rose up and took advantage of a 3:44 Trojan scoring drought while adding nine straight to lead 38-23 with 16:45 left in the game. With 5:40 left, the Storm lead was 15 (53-38). Trevecca refused to go quietly. Fighting all the way back to have a shot at the end. When Chris Rogers converted a layup with :06 left, the Trojans pulled to within three (63-60) on the back of a furious 22-10 run. The Trojans forced a turnover with a Chris Rogers steal, setting up the potential game-tying three-pointer, but Rogers missed on the three-pointer as time expired.

THE PLAYER

Josh Price and Chris Rogers came off the bench as coach Omar Mance allowed the five seniors to start. Price led the team with 21 points and Chris Rogers added 18 points. Price added four steals and five rebounds. Elon Smallwood led the team with eight rebounds.

THE TEAM

Shooting efficiency evaded the Trojans as the team shot just 30% (21-70) from the field and 17.1% (6-35) from deep, but did hit 75% (12-16) from the foul line.

UP NEXT

The loss ends the season for the Trojans and potentially the careers for Brendan Newton, CJ Penha, Miguel Williams, Calvin Walker, Elon Smallwood, Chris Rogers, and Jaylon Tharpe.

SEASON NOTES

Trevecca opened the season in promising fashion, winning three of their first four. Previous to the regular season, the team played well in three exhibitions. Playing NCAA Division 1 Tennessee State well, leading with less than 10 minutes remaining. At Ole Miss, the Trojans led even later in the game, eventually falling 83-76. The Trojans beat the Kenny Anderson-led Fisk Bulldogs in an exhibition on Homecoming.

CJ Penha led the team in scoring with 20.3 points and rebounding with 10.1, a season average of a double-double. He scored 447 points despite playing just 22 of the Trojan's 27 games. Josh Price also averaged scoring in double figures with 14.1 points per game. Price scored 339 points. Penha and Caleb Terry each shot over 49% from the field. Penha 49.6 and Terry 49.5. Chris Rogers was the team's top three-point threat, hitting 37.6% (32-85). Braden Zapp shot 32.8% (19-58) from deep. Chris Rogers also led the team from the foul line, hitting 90% (18-20) from the line. CJ Penha hit 79.4% (77-97) from the line and Josh Price came in a 76.7% (46-60). Brendan Newton grabbed 6.2 rebounds per game and had 31 blocks. Caleb Terry led the team with 35 blocks. Chris Rogers led the team with 2.8 assists per game. CJ Penha led the team with 16 steals followed by Chris Rogers (14), Jaylon Tharpe (12), Elon Smallwood (11), and Josh Price (11).

CJ Penha finished second in the league in scoring, rebounding, and free throw percentage. Caleb Terry and Brendan Newton finished 1-2 in blocks in the league.

CJ Penha scored 20 or more points in 13 of his 22 games played. He scored 30 more or in two of those games. He reached double figures in all but one game. He recorded 12 double-doubles. He had two of the top three rebound games on the season, with 18 against conference champion Walsh and 17 against Shorter.

Through four seasons coach Omar Mance is now 20-81 overall and 17-61 in Great Midwest play.