Box Score Colorado College nearly erased a 12-point deficit during the final seven minutes, but couldn't get its final shots to fall in the closing seconds and dropped a 57-56 decision at Trinity University on Friday night.

CC slipped to 15-9 overall and 10-3 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Tigers now are a half-game behind Texas Lutheran University, which posted an 80-71 victory at the University of Dallas.

In order to claim the conference's regular-season crown and top seed for SCAC Tournament, Colorado College needs to defeat Schreiner University on Saturday and hope the Bulldogs stumble in their final two games at Austin College tomorrow and at Southwestern University on Friday, Feb. 19.

CC had a pair of chances to claim the victory on its final possession, but a jumper by junior forward John Hatch took several bounces on the rim before falling away and senior guard Justin Berardino's three-pointer at the buzzer wouldn't go in, either.

Colorado College trailed by a point after Hatch knocked down a three-pointer with 8:58 to play, but TU used a bucket by Matt Jones and three consecutive three-point possessions to build a 57-45 cushion a little more than two minutes later.

Taylor Kim's three-pointer with 6:50 to play proved to be Trinity's final points of the game.

CC reeled off 11 in a row and pulled to within a point on Andrew Maddock's layup with 2:27 to play, but could not get the go-ahead basket the rest of the way..

Colorado College, which trailed by as many as nine points during the first half, took its first lead when Berardino connected from behind the arc 4:04 into the second frame.

James Lonergan led the Colorado Tigers with 15 points. The senior forward also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists.

Maddock finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Hatch added 13 points and five boards.

Ben Beattie scored a team-high 15 points for TU, which improved to 9-14 overall and 5-7 in league play.