NASHVILLE – The Trevecca Nazarene University men's basketball team (7-3, 3-0 Great Midwest) won for the fifth time in the last six games, beating Bryan College (6-7), 83-68, before a festive Christmas crowd at Trojan Fieldhouse, in a non-conference game on Tuesday afternoon.

The seven wins are already more than any Purple and White squad has earned On the Hill in a season since 2016-2017. The 7-3 overall start is the best in the NCAA Division II era, and the 3-0 conference start is the best since the 2011-2012 transition season from the NAIA to NCAA Division II.

Trevecca evened the series 1-1, winning the second all-time meeting with Bryan College, the first in 54 years. The first, and previously only, meeting came in Trevecca's second season of men's basketball and intercollegiate athletics. Bryan won that game 81-55 on December 15, 1969.

BREAKING IT DOWN  

The game momentum shifted between both teams for most of the first half. Trevecca had a 7-3 lead with 16:21 left in the half and seemed to be set toward establishing a more significant margin. The Lions had different ideas and used a 19-8 run to take a seven-point (22-15) lead with 8:56 left.

Trojan Robert Banks stroked home a three-pointer at 8:30 to ignite a 26-10 Trojan run to close the half. Lawrence Brazil and Jamal Cannady each had six points in the run that saw seven Trojans score. Trevecca led 41-32 at the break. The nine-point edge was their most prominent of the game.

Tommy Gankhuyag scored the opening basket of the second half, giving the Trojans a double-digit lead for the first time, but Bryan scored seven straight, cutting the TNU lead to four (43-39). TNU scored seven straights to rebuild the 11-point advantage (50-39) with 16:29 left.

Leading by five (57-52) with 12:09 remaining on the clock, Trevecca turned up the pressure and pulled away down the stretch like they closed out the first half. Trevecca outscored Bryan 26-14 and led by 17 (83-66) with 1:34 left. Jalen Page paced the Trojans, scoring 13 points in the run.

KEY PLAYERS   

Jalen Page (22) and Jamal Cannady (20) have led the Trojans in scoring tonight as they have all year. Page added six rebounds, two steals, and a block while hitting 5-11 from deep. Cannady had three rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. Pete Lambesis hit double figures with 12 and added six rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Tommy Gankhuyag led the team with seven rebounds and added seven points, three assists, and a steal. 

TEAM TIME   

The Trojans forced 14 turnovers on a team that averages just 12 per game with 11 total steals. Trevecca shot 33-71 (46.5%) from the field but hit just 29.3% from three-point range (12-41). Trevecca outrebounded Bryan 43-41.

Trevecca had a 24-10 edge in fastbreak points 20-12 edge in points scored off of turnover.

MAKING A MARK

Trevecca set two school records and nearly another in the first meeting with Northwood University on December 2, 2023, in Midland, Michigan.

In that 103-71 win, the Trojans set a new all-time (NAIA/NCAA D2) record for made three-pointers in a game with 19. They also set an NCAA-era record for three-point percentage in a game, going 19-of-28 for a 67.9% three-point percentage. The team just missed an NCAA Era record with 24 assists. The record is 25.

D2SIDA started a NCAA Division II basketball region ranking during the 2019-2020 season. In the fourth week of this season, Trevecca made the top 10 in the Midwest Region poll for the first time. It first happened in the fourth week of this season, with the team coming in at No. 10. The team moved up to No. 6 in the fifth poll and, despite being on break for Finals, the team dropped to No. 8 in the sixth week.

Trevecca finished last season with the lowest scoring average in NCAA Division II; this year, they are hanging between the top 18 and the top 30. As of this writing, the team improved their scoring average from 55.7 points per game last year to 86.6 points per game this year.

Jalen Page has two games with 31 points and has been recognized as the Great Midwest Player of the Week twice and the Tennessee Sports Writer's Association Player of the Week once.

The Trojans overcame a win-less mark against the University of Findlay, ending the Oilers' 15-game winning streak in the series with a 96-90 win in Trojan Fieldhouse on November 28. Trevecca beat Northwood next; the Wolves won the only two previous meetings in the series. Trevecca has won a couple of games against Malone but ended a four-game winning streak and picked up their third win against 10 Pioneer wins in the series.

Trevecca has broken the century mark twice this season; the last time a Trevecca eclipsed the century mark before this season was a 117-94 win over Ohio Valley University more than five years ago on December 7, 2013, the second year in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. 

The three-overtime game against CBU is the first time the Trojans had gone past regulation since 2018 when they played back-to-back overtime games against Ohio Dominican (2/01/18) and Cedarville (2/03/18). Both were losses by the Trojans. The Trojans immediately went to overtime again, beating Shorter 84-80 in overtime three nights later, on November 21 in Rome, Ga.

UP NEXT   
Come celebrate the end of the semester and Christmas when the Trojans host Christian Brothers University (2-3, 1-2 GSC) for a special Christmas and Finals celebration at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, December 2.   
 
MORE ABOUT THE TREVECCA TROJANS   
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