​Trinity Men’s Basketball Clicking after Rough Seasons

Trinity basketball players (left to right) Nik Oakes, Tyler Peavy, 
Tyler Sawyer, Colin Jones, Josh Ingram, and A.J.Pulliam 
during a game against Colorado College
Photo by Bennett Soriano

By Kate Irvin

At the end of the 2016-2017 regular season, which ended ​last week, Trinity men’s basketball team achieved a record of 12-13. This was a great improvement from last year’s record of 10-16, and much better than their 2014-2015 season record of 5-20.

The story of the team overcoming adversities and becoming, once again, a winning team, can be seen as a prime example of how a team can face challenges and still find a way to positive team chemistry and victories.

After two straight losing seasons (2014 through 2016) and the struggle to end the win drought, the team faced a lot of adversity. This was a new situation for a team that not long ago had won three straight conference championships. They learned to maintain a positive attitude amid negativity. They learned to have patience, trust the process, and work their way to improve every year, until their 12-13 season this year.

Nik Oakes and Matt Jones, two junior guards, have been on the team since that grueling 5-20 season. Both of them experienced firsthand how their team has progressed and gotten better every year since their freshman season.

“The hardest part about freshman year was just continuing to lose. No matter what we did in practice, how we changed our lineups, nothing seemed to help us win,” said Jones. “I think the biggest thing this year is that we have started to finally trust each other and our system to help us win games. When we trust our teammates and make plays for others, that is when it gets really fun and we play really well.”

Oakes said there was more leadership on the team this year. “We have guys on the team who have been through the struggle of not winning a lot of games, so we are a lot more motivated to go to work at practice every day.”

Part of the leadership also came from the team’s veteran coaching staff. Head coach Pat Cunningham has accumulated an overall 308-161 record during his 18-​year career at Trinity and is the winningest men’s basketball coach in school history.

Senior center Josh Ingram, who was on the men’s team that had won the SCAC title in 2014, had to learn to handle the losses after a winning season. “It forced us to do some soul searching and be critical of ourselves. It made us work harder for the next year,” he said.

A commitment to working hard and staying optimistic on and off the court has indeed defined the current team culture. Meanwhile, compared with the past two seasons, the players are now spending more quality time together off the court, having team meals and hanging out. On the court, players exhibit a better attitude, smiling, laughing,​ and just enjoying the game they all have loved since they were little kids.

Their efforts have clinched them a spot in this year’s SCAC basketball tournament, set to begin on ​Friday in Georgetown, Texas. That evening, they will take on Southwestern University. The Tigers played two games against Southwestern earlier in the season, winning one and losing the other. The team looks to cap off their season with a conference title and is optimistic about the program’s success in the upcoming years.

The team only has two players graduating this year, A.J. Pulliam and Josh Ingram, so they will have almost the entire current team coming back next season. This will allow the Tigers to continue to build chemistry and continue their success by generating a lot of excitement about a team trying to redefine itself.