SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Trinity College Bantams suffered their first loss of the season, 80-78, at Western New England University this afternoon.  Trinity falls to 9-1 and the host Golden Bears improve to 7-2.  Senior captain C.J. Redd (Peekskill, N.Y.) paced Trinity with 19 points and five rebounds.  The Bantams will return to action after Christmas with the Trinity Holiday Invitational on December 30 featuring the Bantams, Framingham State, Farmingdale State, and Endicott.  

Trinity recovered from an early 10-4 deficit and led, 11-10, on a traditional three-point play by Redd at the 14:08 mark of the first half.  The Bantam scored six points in a row later in the first half and led, 28-22, on two free throws by junior Gilbert Otoo (Burtonsville, Md.) with 6:29 on the clock.  The Golden Bears went ahead, 37-35, on a put-back by Jake Harrison in the final two minutes before the break, but Otoo and sophomore guard Will Dorion (Needham, Mass.) scored the final five points of the first half to give Trinity a 42-39 lead.

Trinity came out hot in the second stanza and Redd scored seven points in a 1:02 span to push the Bantam lead to double digits at 54-43 less than five minutes after intermission.  The Golden Bears went on a 14-5 run and tied the score at 64-64 on a layup by Gavin Greene with 8:33 on the clock.  Dorion made two free throws to put Trinity up for the final time, as Western New England scored the next five points and led, 69-68, with 5:54 remaining. 

The remained tight the rest of the way.  Back-to-back buckets by Redd and Otoo made the score, 79-78, in the home team's favor in the final minute.  Cody Palazzelli made one of two free throws with nine seconds left and Otoo's three-point try for the win from the wing as time expired bounced off the back of the rim.  Otoo joined Redd in double figures in scoring with 17 points, while junior captain Ben Callahan-Gold (New York, N.Y.) scored 14 points to go with 10 boards and two blocks and Dorion added 11 points and four assists.  Western New England's Tim Restall led all scorers with 25 points, while Greene and Harrison scored 18 points apiece.