Lewiston, Maine - First-year forward Edward Ogundeko (Brooklyn, N.Y.) collected a double-double on 14 points and 13 rebounds to help propel the visiting Trinity College Bantam men's basketball team past the Bates College Bobcats, 74-59, this evening in Alumni Gym in a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) contest.  The Bantams, who improve to 10-6 overall and 2-1 NESCAC in the NESCAC, shot at a more efficient rate than the Bobcats both from the field (50 percent to 35 percent) and from behind the arc (43 percent to 19 percent).  Bates drops to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in the league

Ogundeko shot 6-of-12 from the floor among four Bantams in double figures. Sophomore forward Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) paced the team with 15 points while junior co-captain center George Papadeas (Athens, Greece) scored 11, and sophomore guard Jaquann Starks (Hartford, Conn.) had 10.  For Bates, Graham Safford (Hampden, Maine) netted a game-high 17 points in the team's home conference opener. Junior Billy Selmon (Atlanta, Ga.) recorded 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting, first-year Malcolm Delpeche (Wilmington, Del.) contributed 12 points, and sophomore Mike Boornazian (Portland, Conn.) added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The teams played within two possessions of one another over the game's first 13 minutes until Ajayi connected on a 3-pointer to give the visitors a 23-16 lead with 6:21 to go in the half. Boornazian answered with a 3-pointer of his own, but Trinity used an 11-4 run to bring a 34-23 edge into the locker room.  Just less than four minutes into the second period, the Bobcats remained within 40-27 before the Bantams built a 51-29 advantage behind an 11-2 spurt. Trinity's lead ballooned to as large as 24 at 59-35 with 7:14 to play.  Bates cut its deficit to 10 at 69-59 with 1:26 to play, but the visitors made five free throws, and the hosts did not score again over the duration.