NEW LONDON, Conn. — The Trinity College men's basketball team dropped a close contest, 58-52, on the road at in-state New England Small College Athletic Conference rival Connecticut College on Friday. The Bantams moved to 14-2 on the season and 2-1 in the league, while the Camels improved to 12-4 and 3-0. Trinity stays on the road with a midweek matchup at Mitchell College at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

With 2:20 remaining in the second half, Andrew Hartel went to the line to make one of his two free throws and tie the game at 52 apiece. Off a defensive rebound by Elias Espinosa put the home team up by two followed by a jumper to seal the win for the Camels. The Navy & Gold entered the half up by four and quickly padded the lead by two with a Gilbert Otoo (Burtonsville, Md) jumper 11 seconds into the second half. The Bantams fought hard against a strong defensive team with seven points off turnovers in the second as opposed to the opening half, which saw no opportunities. The bench put in work for Trinity with 21 total points, along with the quick-moving offense with the only fast-break points of the game with four in the second half.

The home team netted the first points of the contest before Otoo connected for a jumper 26 seconds later. C.J. Redd (Peekskill, N.Y.) racked up five back-to-back points off a jumper and a three-pointer both off the fingertips of Otoo and ignited a 15-6 run. Sean Okpoebo (Leominster, Mass.) stepped on the court for the first time this season and put up seven points with a steal and a defensive rebound in his 12 minutes of play as a reserve. Okpoebo's first points of the game come off a pair of buckets at the line 10:56 into the first and extended Trinity's lead by five. A three-point bucket by Ben Rice put the Camels up by one with three and a half remaining in the opening period, before Henry Vetter rebounded his own shot and connected for a layup in the paint to tie it at 19 apiece. Two free throws and a three-pointer by Vetter, with the pass from Joseph Hoch (Queens, N.Y.), put Trinity up by three followed by a Redd three-pointer off the hands of Dana Smith (Providence, R.I.) closed out the first half, as Trinity led 27-23.

Halfway through the second stanza, Okpoebo's three-pointer off the pass from Smith padded the lead for Trinity and was the largest held lead by the Bantams, 45-36. A 12-7 run by the Camels narrowed the deficit to within one at 4:56 on the second before the Hartel free throw sparked the win for the home team. Redd, Vetter and Okpoebo  each notched five points, while Otoo and Sean Macarchuk (Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.) tallied four each.