Dartmouth, Mass. - Despite a big second half which forced overtime after being down as much as 17 in the first half, the Trinity College men's basketball team fell to the UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs, 83-76, in the Bantams season opener on Friday evening as part of the Hampton Inn Classic, hosted by the Corsairs. Trinity returns to action tomorrow when they face off against Southern Vermont at 5 p.m.

Junior Jeremy Arthur (Westbury, N.Y.) dropped in a career-high 20 points on 5-11 shooting and senior co-captain Ed Ogundeko (New York, N.Y.) scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, both game-highs, but that wasn't enough to overcome an evening where the Bantams had 29 turnovers and shot 38.1% as a team from the field. The Corsairs saw five different players with double digit point performances, led by senior Jon Robinson (Chatham, Mass.) who had a team-high 17 points. UMass-Dartmouth shot 44.6% from the field including a 9-18 clip from beyond the arc.

After finding themselves down 17 in the first half, the Bantams used an 11-4 run to close out the half and cut the deficit to eight. Junior Eric Gendron (Merrimack, N.H.) knocked down a three-pointer, followed by a pair of free throws by sophomore Paul Colson (Baldwin, N.Y.) to ignite the run. Free throws from Arthur were followed by a layup by senior Langdon Neal (Chicago, Ill.) to make it a 33-25 game, before sophomore Judah Woney (New York, N.Y.) hit the front end of two free throws to close out the half.

Trinity outscored the Corsairs, 42-34, in the second half to force overtime behind 15 second half points by Ogundeko and 11 from Gendron. UMass-Dartmouth tried to pull away but the Bantams kept fighting, eventually taking a four-point lead with 2:19 to play. After a pair of Corsair free throws by Robinson cut the lead to two, Ogundeko made a layup to retake a four-point advantage with 48 seconds to play. Robinson responded with a big three-pointer that cut the lead to one with 19 ticks left. UMass-Dartmouth senior Abi Akanni (Fitchburg, Mass.) nailed a jumper after a Trinity turnover to take a one point lead but Ogundeko sinked one of two free throws with four seconds left to force overtime.

The Corsairs pulled away in overtime, extending a nine point lead with just over a minute to play. Colson drilled a three-pointer to cut the deficit to five with 34 seconds to go but UMass-Dartmouth iced the game with seven seconds left on a pair of free-throws to bring home the victory.