SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Men's basketball led Trinity by one at the half but was bested in the second in an 89-81 loss Sunday in their season opener.

"Not the result we were looking for, but man did our guys play hard and compete," said head coach Xavier Webb. "Trinity is a very well-coached and ranked team (received top 25 votes). Playing at Trinity is never easy and it was good to see us battle. There are some things we need to clean up and improve, but we had some guys really step up. I'm really excited to build off of this weekend."

Trinity opened with an 11-2 run and held a lead until the Lobos took a 20-18 advantage after an 11-0 run featured three triples from Gabe Sanchez and a layup from Jake Lopez for the two-point lead midway through the first half.

Both sides held slim leads before Sully took a seven-point advantage with a 9-1 run. Trey Nelson started with a triple and a free throw before Sanchez added the next three with a layup and free throw. Eli Gonzalez then made his first bucket as a Lobo on a layup for a 41-34 lead with under 5:00 left in the half.

The Tigers nipped away with a 10-4 run to finish the half for a slim 45-44 Sully lead at the break.

Nelson opened the second half with a triple to make it 48-44 and later upped it to 54-48 with a pair of free throws at 17:19. After a Trinity layup, Jake Lopez sank a three and then a jumper before Mitchell Martinez hit a jumper and Daveone Bass converted a layup for a 63-50 lead to cap a 9-0 run.

Sully's largest lead was at 66-52 on another Sanchez three but turned into a 71-69 deficit after a 19-1 Trinity answer for a 71-67 score with 7:43 left.

The Lobos immediately cut it to two with a layup from Julian Paredes but couldn't get within four again in an 89-81 loss to the Tigers.

Trey Nelson tied a game-high 20 points and added a game-best six assists. He shot 4-for-6 from beyond the arc, 6-for-8 from the free throw line and had four rebounds and two steals. 

Sanchez had 18 points with seven rebounds.

Paredes was also in double digits with 12 points and tied Sanchez for a team-high seven rebounds.

Sully falls to 0-1 on the season and remains 0-0 in conference.

The Lobos begin conference play on Saturday, November 13 against University of the Ozarks at the Gallego Center.