2025 Men's Basketball Fall Review

 

NASHVILLE – The Nate Moran era is underway for the Trevecca Nazarene University men's basketball team, and early returns are good for the Trojans and their new bench boss. Trevecca is off to a 7-4 start including a 3-3 start in Gulf South Conference play, and the offense has been rolling.

 

Early Season Dominance

The Trojans opened the season with four straight games at home, including an exhibition contest to open the season on Homecoming weekend. The Trojans put up a historic effort in the homecoming win, and while the statistics from that game do not count, the statement that was made was loud and clear. The Trojans roared out of the gates on Homecoming weekend with a 53-point first half, and a 37-point exhibition win over the Sewanee Tigers, 115-78. That win put a great cap on the weekend that saw former player Josh Helton and the Voice of the Trojans Gregory Ruff inducted into the TNU Athletics Hall of fame. The win featured the Trojans highest offensive output on homecoming weekend in nearly 20 years.

 

After the homecoming win, the Trojans dropped a close tilt to Palm Beach Atlantic University to open the Robert Garrett Classic the next weekend, but they followed it up with an 88-82 win over Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.) that set off a five-game winning streak. Trevecca blitzed Oakwood University on November 19, 99-66, and they followed that up with a pair of road wins on opposite ends of the Volunteer State. Trevecca narrowly missed reaching the century mark at Tusculum University in a 98-75 win, and they rolled to an 89-72 win at Lane College three days later in Jackson, Tennessee - site of many hard-fought Trojan tilts over the years on the hardwood, though it was the first time the Trojans and Dragons met up in basketball. 

 

During the first five games of the regular season, Trevecca's offense racked up an average of 92.4 points per tilt, and never shot worse than 42.4% from the floor. Trevecca averaged 17.6 assists per game during the stretch, and they had 41 steals as well. The highlight of the run was the game at Tusculum, in which the Trojans set a new single game field goal percentage record. The Trojans made 35 of 49 shots in the game for a shooting percentage of 71.4%. Fred Bailey set the early season highwater mark for individual scoring in the game at Tusculum, where he tallied 27 points on 11 of 13 shooting. 

 

Gulf South Play Opens

With a 4-1 mark on their ledger, the Trojans headed into their second season of GSC play on December 4 when they hosted Auburn University at Montgomery, and the Trojans found themselves in a very different kind of game. AUM led for most of the night, but the teams battled fiercely on the defensive end of the floor. Both teams held the other below 36% shooting, and below 30% from deep, while forcing 15 or more turnovers. In the end, it was the Trojans who outlasted the Warhawks to open the GSC portion of the schedule with a win.

 

Trevecca hits the end of the 2025 calendar year with a record of 3-3, but they are a whisker away from a 5-1 start to the conference season. Two of the Trojans three conference losses saw the Trojans erase double-digit deficits and pull to within a single basket. Trevecca pulled to within two at West Alabama after trailing by as many as 18 to the Tigers in the second half, and in their final GSC tilt of the semester, they turned a 19-point deficit into a two point game with less than a minute to go in both cases. 

 

On the winning side of the ledger, Trevecca made a pair of statements in the month of December. First, Trevecca upset then-No. 21 Alabama-Huntsville on the road on December 11th. The win was noteworthy because it marked the first time the Trojans won in Huntsville in more than four decades. Trevecca's win was the first at UAH for Trevecca since December 14, 1984, and it featured another 27-point effort - this one from Jax Abernathy. 

 

One week later, Trevecca made another statement against a historic powerhouse, and this one may have sent larger shockwaves. The Trojans handed Valdosta State University their worst defeat since 1993 - defeating the Blazers by a whopping 36 points, 107-71. The win was the Trojans' largest in a conference game since January 28, 2008 when they beat the Blue Mountain (Miss.) Toppers 119-76 in the days of the TranSouth Athletic Conference.

 

Trojans Bench Leading the Charge

Depth has been a calling card of the Trevecca season thus far. Five times on the season, Trevecca has posted 40 or more bench points, including a season best 49 points in their win over Oakwood. Trevecca's bench scorers have averaged more than 37 points per game, as they have racked up 415 points on the campaign. In contrast, Trevecca has held their opponents to only 239 bench points - an average of 21.7 points per game - and they have kept their opponents under 30 points off the bench eight times, including four efforts of fewer than 20 points. 

 

Turnovers/Fastbreaks Aiding Trevecca Scoring

Similar to the story off the bench, Trevecca has done a lot of work on the run and off turnovers this season. The Trojans have out-scored their opponents on the fast break and off turnovers eight times. Trevecca has eclipsed 20 points on the fast break five times including a high-water mark of 29 against Embry-Riddle. Off turnovers, the Trojans have tallied 15 or more points in 10 of the 11 games. The best mark of the year for Trevecca had 30 points in their game against Palm Beach Atlantic.

 

RECORDS SET | 2025-26

Trevecca has already set three records, and as the calendar turns to 2026, the Trojans are within range of several more. 

 

Single Game FG Percentage | 71.4 (35-49) vs. Tusculum (Tenn.)

Broke previous record of 69.4% vs. Delta State (Miss.) 2024-25

 

Single Game 3-point FG Attempted | 43 vs. Valdosta State

Broke record of 41 vs. Bryan (Tenn.) 2023-24

 

Single Game Total Rebounds | 55 vs. Oakwood (Ala.)

Broke record of 54 vs. Shorter (Ga.) 2015-16

 

RECORDS APPROACHED

Single Game 3-pointers made | 18 vs. Valdosta State (Ga.)

Current Record | 19 vs. Northwood (Mich.) 2023-24

 

Single Game 3-point FG% | 66.7% vs. Tusculum (Tenn.)

Current Record | 67.9% vs. Northwood (Mich.) 2023-24

 

RECORDS ON PACE

Season Points per Game | 83.1 PPG

Current Record | 82.7 PPG

 

Season Points Allowed per Game | 76.1 PPG

Current Record | 83.2 PPG

 

Season Free Throw% | 75.2%  

Current Record | 76.7% 

 

TEAM RANKINGS

NCAA RANKINGS Bench Scoring – 10 Fast Break Scoring - 17 3-Point Attempts per Game – T-8

GSC RANKINGS 3-point FG Made - 2 Scoring Offense - 4 Scoring Margin - 5 FG% Defense - 5 3-Point FG% Defense - 5 Defensive Rebounds - 5 Assists - 5 Steals - 5

 

MORE ABOUT THE TREVECCA TROJANS

Visit the Official Home of Trevecca Athletics at www.tnutrojans.com | www.trevecca.edu

Click for Live Video of home games.

Follow on Social Media - Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Free Newsletter

 

-- www.tnutrojans.com --

#PurpleReigns #DefendTheHill