
ELGIN, IL. - Trinity Christian's (22-8) strong first half of shooting was enough to propel them into the CCAC Championship as they held off Judson University, 91-79. Judson University (21-11) could not stop the Trolls shots from the three-point line in the first half as they finished shooting 75% from beyond the arc (9-of-12).
Dewayne Robinson finished off a stellar career at Judson with 21 points and will Judson with 1,801 points which is third all-time at Judson. He also picked up a double-double adding 10 assists. Nate McNeely gave Judson 11 points and LeStan Hoskins 10.
Will Bruinsma scored 25 of his game leading 32 points on seven three-pointers made in the first half for Trinity Christian. Also scoring for Trinity Christian was Kurt Gruppen with 13, Jonathan Huizinga with 11, and Ross Stuursma at 10.
After six ties in the first half, Trinity Christian took over the game with 10 minutes left. Judson's Robinson tied the game at 17 with 10:45 left in the half when Trinity Christian went on a 12-0 run for a 12-point lead, 29-17. They pushed their lead to 18, 41-23, and then took a 15-point lead into the half. At one point in that run, Trinity Christian was shooting almost 90% from three-point range. As Trinity Christian took the 18-point lead, Bruinsma hit five of the Trolls six pointers in the run in four minutes. On six straight possessions, Trinity Christian nailed three-pointers.
Judson did not back down in the second half as they cut the Trolls lead to eight, 55-47, with 14:22 remaining. A 10-2 run over three-minutes put Judson in that position. Just two minutes later, Judson's Robinson converted a three-point play to bring the lead down to six, 59-53. Then, at the 9:14 mark, Hoskins banked a layup to make it 63-58 and put Judson within striking distance. In the next three minutes, Trinity Christian responded with a 15-4 to extend their lead to 16, 78-62, with 5:09 left in the game.
Once again, Judson answered with an 11-0 run in two minutes to put Trinity Christian's lead at five, 78-73. From that point, Judson did not get the needed breaks to catch the Trolls. Trinity Christian made 13-of-16 from the free throw line in the final 2:25 to secure the win.
Judson finished shooting 43% from the floor, 30% from three-point range, and 64% from the stripe while the Trolls made 47% of their shots, 52% from beyond the arc, and 85% from the foul line. Judson out rebounded Trinity Christian, 38-36, and both teams only had 10 turnovers.
Judson finishes their season with the second most wins in school history with 21 and broke the record for consecutive wins at nine. In his first year as head coach, Tony Tompkins led Judson to their second straight CCAC regular season championship.