The Colorado College men's basketball team downed No. 10 and top-seeded Trinity 71-70 in the semifinals of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. 
 
The Tigers will play in the tournament championship game on Sunday for the first time since the 2016 season. The Tigers had not won 16 games since the 2015-16 season; they finished 16-11 (their current record after Saturday). 
 
CC also has a chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003-2004. 
 
"This is a huge moment for Colorado College basketball," head coach Jeff Conarroe said. "I'm just really proud of our guys. They stepped up and made a ton of plays. Our staff is working extremely hard to get a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament. This really is a vision coming into reality.' 
 
The Tigers are just the fourth No. 4 seed to reach the SCAC championship game and the first since Trinity in 2007 to advance to the title game.
 
Sophomore Dinari Boykin led the team with 20 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, a block and four steals. The Baltimore native shot 7-16 from the floor and scored 20 points for the fourth time this season. 
 
Guard Scott Ruegg followed suit with 13 points, four assists and a steal. Ruegg was 50 percent (3-6) from long range. The Tigers finished the game 10-21 from long range. 
 
CC's defense played one of their best halves of the season, limiting Trinity to only 10 made shots off 20 attempts. Trinity came into the game averaging 81.1 points per game. The Tigers have the best FG percentage defense in the SCAC and limited Trinity to 44.4 percent on Saturday. 
 
The Tigers led 28-24 at the halftime break, and in the second half, they built their lead up to 11 on two different occasions. Edgar Romero scored inside the paint with 14:16 left in the game, making it 48-37. Trinity proceeded to go on a run and cut the CC lead down to two with 10:49 left. 
 
CC countered and increased their advantage to 10 thanks to an 8-1 run over two minutes, capped by an Adrian Price dunk. That made it 59-49 Tigers with 6:56 remaining. Trinity wouldn't go quietly as they slowly chipped away at the lead, eventually tying the game 62-62 thanks to back-to-back clutch shots from Tanner Brown. 
 
However, two monstrous three-pointers by Asher Nofziger and Romero kept CC in front by five with 1:03 left. Brown made a jumper on the next possession, but Boykin got to the line and made a free throw with four seconds left, making it a four-point game. Trinity made a desperation three-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining, but it was too late as CC edged out the victory. 
 
"Creating championship culture requires all of us," Conarroe said. "We've been able to connect with alumni, and it's helped us from a recruiting standpoint. It's starting to come to fruition, and we're having young men who are really successful at Colorado College. I'm just so proud and excited for this moment." 
 
Sunday will be CC's third appearance in the SCAC Championship Game. They improved to 5-9 all-time in the conference tournament. The Tigers will take on No. 3 seeded Centenary, who upending the No. 2 seeded St. Thomas Celts in the other semifinal game. 
 
Championship tip-off is set for 11 a.m. MT from the Gold Dome.