Amherst, Mass. - Junior Colin Donovan (Westborough, Mass.) recorded 24 points and four rebounds Friday night, helping push the visiting Trinity College men's basketball program to an 89-85 victory over Amherst inside LeFrak Gymnasium. With the win, the Bantams improve its chances of securing home-court advantage in the NESCAC tournament, improving to 6-3 in the conference and 16-7 overall. Like Trinity, the Mammoths now find itselves sitting 6-3 in NESCAC play while sporting a 16-7 overall record.

The Bantams will have a chance to claim three wins in a row with Saturday afternoon's matchup against Hamilton, while Amherst look to recover their form in a senior night contest against the Connecticut Camels that same night.    

Trinity began the opening five minutes of play on a 13-2 run, led by three-pointers by junior Colin Donovan (Westborough, Mass.) and senior Joe Bell (Manchester, N.H.). Junior Donald Jorden (Tampa, Fla.) and senior co-captain Kyle Padmore (Milton, Mass.) provided Trinity with a strong presence inside the paint, adding inside layups of their own to extend the Bantam lead to 17, placing Trinity ahead 33-17 with 7:23 to play.

Mammoth junior Fru Che (Somerville, Mass.) paced Amherst back into contention with inside layups of his own, while junior Garrett Day (Pittsburgh, Pa.) found success from behind the arc, connecting on a shot from the top of the arc to cut the Bantam lead to just 43-32 with 2:48 remaining in the half. The last two minutes of play saw the Mammoths continue their offense momentum; Day continued to shoot well from beyond the arc, ending the half 5-9 from downtown and hitting another three from the corner of the arc at the 45-second mark, earning 19 first-half points and Trinity clinging to a 43-39 lead.

The second half saw the Bantams continue to put pressure on offensively, with buckets from Donovan and senior co-captain Nick Seretta (Greenfield, Mass.) spurring an early six-point lead. Seretta soon increased the Bantam lead to ten after a three-point shot from the top of the arc, pushing Trinity's advantage to 67-57 over the Mammoths with 10:26 on the clock.

Amherst remained persistent, sparking an 11-4 run with Mammoth senior Josh Chery (West Orange, N.J.) contributing six of his own to bring his side level with 6:36 remaining in the second period. The two sides continued to trade baskets, with Trinity unable to create a lead larger than six. In the final three minutes of regulation, jump shots from Seretta and Donovan were quickly canceled out by layups from Mammoth senior Eric Sellew (Carlisle, Mass.) and Day, who kept Amherst just down two points, 85-83, with 54 seconds left. Donovan then provided the dagger for the Bantams after an aggressive drive and score at the rim, putting Trinity ahead 87-83 with 0:27 left to play. The subsequent possession saw Donovan hit two free-throws to seal Trinity's 89-85 win.  

In addition to Donovan's 24 points, Bell contributed 17 points along with two assists and eight rebounds. Seretta finished his night with 14 points and six rebounds, while Padmore had seven rebounds and five assists to top off an 11-point display. The Bantams shot 51.5% (34-66) from the floor and an efficient 50% (10-20) from behind the arc. Following up an impressive showing against Bates last week, Trinity's bench again proved more than useful, outscoring Amherst' 28-10. For the Mammoths, Day finished with a game-high 29 points, going 6-12 from three-point range, while Sellew, Che, and Chery also finished in double-digit scoring for Amherst with 20, 16, and 11 respectively.