MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The No. 7-seeded Trinity College men's basketball team was defeated by top-seeded Wesleyan University, 70-67 on Saturday afternoon at Silloway Gymnasium in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Semifinals. After winning their last six games, the Bantams 2021-22 season all but comes to an end (16-9) with the hopes of receiving at at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, as the Cardinals advance to the NESCAC Championship game on their home court tomorrow at noon. Wesleyan will face the winner of this afternoon's Semifinal matchup between No. 4 Williams and No. 3 Middlebury College. 
 
The Cardinals put together an efficient start, taking a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes of Saturday's action. Senior captain Donald Jorden Jr. (Tampa, Fla.) put a stop to the early bleeding with a bucket in the paint on an assist from first-year point guard Will Dorion (Needham, Mass.). Wesleyan extended its lead to as many as 13 in the first half but Trinity strung together an 11-point run as junior Dana Smith (Providence, R.I.) contributed a 3-pointer and steal to fuel the Bantams. Gabe Ravetz later knocked down a wide open 3-pointer of his own to beat the buzzer and take the Cardinals into the locker room with a 5-point lead. 
 
Despite only scoring two points in the first half, sophomore Ben Callahan-Gold posted a strong scoring performance in the second including a 3-pointer out of the gates to cut the Bantams' deficit to two and later giving his team its first lead of the game on another 3-ball at the 15:09 mark. Back and forth action lead to a 65-all ball game with just under five minutes to go as Dorion knotted things up on a 3-pointer. The Bantams failed to come away with any points on four-straight possessions while Shackylle Dezonie made an acrobatic layup in the paint shortly after Preston Maccoux hit a clutch 3-pointer to give Wesleyan a five-point lead with under a minute remaining. After knocking down a pair of free throws to make it a one-possession game, senior captain Darius Lue (Tampa, Fla.) had a last second look at a game-tying 3-pointer but couldn't connect. 
 
Callahan-Gold tallied 12 points in the second half to finish with 14 in total and tied Dorion for the team-high on the day. Dorion also added 12 assists which marks his first double-double of his career.  Meanwhile, Jorden Jr. finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Collectively, the Bantams shot 38.8 % from the field and were outrebounded by the Cardinals 42-37. Wesleyan shot 48.4% as a whole with James Jordan (13), Sam Peek (12) and Ravetz (12) combining for more than half of their team's scoring.