Northfield, Vt. - Trinity College was named the 2014 Ed
Hockenbury Men's Basketball Classic championship team for the
second straight year following this afternoon's 65-33 win
against the Cadets of Norwich University. The University of Maine
at Augusta finished the tournament in third place after defeating
Rivier University, 88-75 in the consolation game. Trinity
junior forward
Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was named the
tournament's Most Outstanding Player. He was joined on the
all-tournament team by teammate
Alex Conaway (New Haven, Conn.),
Rivier's David Lorden (Pepperell, Mass.), and
Maine-Augusta's Brandon Rogers (Turlock, Calif.), and
Norwich's Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.), who earned the honor
for the second straight year. Trinity enters the exam break
with a 7-2 record and five wins in a row, its best start since
2007-08, and has a 23-day layoff before hosting the Trinity College
Holiday Invitational on December 30 and 31.
The Trinity defense held Norwich to eight in the first half,
opening the game with a 11-1 run spanning the first 10 minutes of
the game. Norwich managed just three first-half field goals, and
the Bantams had a 23-8 halftime advantage. In the second half,
Trinity junior guard
Rick Naylor (Sudbury, Vt.) nailed a
three-pointer to spark a 12-2 run that extended the Bantam lead to
39-14 score before Norwich broke the skid on a layup by Jimmy
Warden (North Andover, Mass.) at the 10:28 mark. Trinity
continued its offensive attack as the lead swelled to over 30
points thanks to a six unanswered points by Bantam rookie center
James McCullagh (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) to close the game.
The Bantams were led by sophomore forward
Ed Ogundeko (Brooklyn,
N.Y.) and McCullagh who netted 10 points apiece with Ogundeko
adding 10 rebounds for a double-double. Sophomore guard Chris
Turnbull (Ridgewood, N.J.) and Conaway each added nine points,
while Ajayi contributed eight points. Norwich freshman Mike
Hogervorst (Leiden, Netherlands) paced the Cadets with seven points
and five rebounds.