Hartford, Conn. - The Trinity College men's basketball team, which downed the Tufts University Jumbos, 90-76, in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Quarterfinals over the weekend, has advanced to the conference semifinals at Wesleyan University on Saturday, February 26.  The No. 7-seeded Bantams, coached by James Cosgrove (12th Season), are now 16-8 and will face the top-seeded Cardinals (22-3) in their semifinal on Saturday at 2 p.m. followed by the other semifinal featuring No. 3-seeded Middlebury (18-5) and No. 4-seeded Williams (15-3) at 4:30 p.m. The semifinal winners will play in the NESCAC Championship Finals on Sunday, February 27 at at Wesleyan at noon.  The winner of the NESCAC Championship Tournament will determine the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.  Tickets for the semifinal games are $6 for adults, $3 for students/seniors and children under 2 are free. Semifinal tickets sold will be honored for both games if fans would like to attend both.
 
Trinity sophomore F/C Ben Callahan-Gold (New York, N.Y.) dropped 20 points, six rebounds, and a block in the NESCAC Quarterfinal win at Tufts.  Junior guard C.J. Redd (Peekskill, N.Y.) finished with 15 points and a pair of steals while senior tri-captain F/C Donald Jorden, Jr. (Tampa, Fla.) registered 14 points and each collected six rebounds apiece. Sophomore guard Gilbert Otoo (Burtonsville, Md.) led the team with seven boards to go with 13 points while senior tri-captain guard Tyler Mola (Leominster, Mass.) chipped in 13 points, all in the first half, and five assists.  The Bantams rank No. 1 in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense at 26%, eighth in the country in overall field percentage defense (37.7%), and ninth nationally in defensive rebounding (31.8 per game). Jorden has been stellar this winter averaging 9.7 rebounds (2nd in NESCAC), 14.8 points  (9th in NESCAC), and 1.1 blocks (7th in NESCAC) per game with a .576 field goal percentage (2nd in NESCAC) and .784 free throw percentage (9th in NESCAC).

The Bantams are second in the NESCAC in assists per game at 15.7 per contest, as rookie guard Will Dorian (Needham, Mass.) and Ethan McEachern (Portland, Oregon) rank second and third, respectively, in the conference with nearly four dimes per game apiece. Callahan-Gold averages 13.7 points, sinking over three treys every time out, and seven rebounds per game.  Redd and Otto are averaging over 21 ppg on the wings.  Senior tri-captain guard Darius Lue (Tampa, Fla.), junior forward Dana Smith (Providence, R.I.), and Jorden have combined for 64 steals on the defensive end.  Lue has also made 23 shots from long range and fellow senior tri-captain guard Tyler Mola (Leominster, Mass.) has made 21 from beyond the arc.  Trinity and Wesleyan will meet in the NESCAC Championship for the sixth time. The Bantams improved to 3-2 against the Cardinals in the NESCAC postseason series with a 51-49 win in the 2017 quarterfinals.

Wesleyan, coached by Trinity alum Joe Reilly (14th Season), downed Colby, 82-71, in its quarterfinal game. Senior Sam Peek, who is one of five Cardinals to average double figures, ranks second in the NESCAC in scoring (18.9 ppg) and is averaging 6.8 rebounds per game. Senior Jordan James is shooting a NESCAC-best 70.9 percent from the floor for the season and averaging 11.3 points and 6.3 rebounds. Wesleyan has the highest-scoring offense in the NESCAC at 85.8 points per game and leads the conference in field goal percentage (49.5%) and assists (19.8 apg). Wesleyan has won six straight and has played in two NESCAC Championship games, winning the title in 2015.  This season, Wesleyan earned an 82-74 win on its home floor against the Bantams on January 14.