HARTFORD, Conn. – The Trinity College Men's Basketball team overcame a slow start in the first half to capture a 74-57 non-conference victory over visiting Wheaton College at Oosting Gymnasium Wednesday night. The Bantams improve to 3-0 on the season, while the Lyons drop to 1-2 overall.

Junior Will Dorion (Needham, Mass.) knocked down a three-pointer to give the Bantams an early 5-2 lead, but the Lyons took control over the next seven minutes with a 12-2 run to grab a 14-7 lead with 10:54 to play in the first half. Trinity settled in and regained the lead with an 11-0 run over the next four minutes, featuring triples from sophomore Drew Lazarre (West Haven, Conn.) and senior Sean Okpoebo (Leominster, Mass.), to take a 15-14 advantage. Graduate Dana Smith (Providence, R.I.) converted a three-point play at the 3:15 mark to extend the Bantams lead to 27-19, and then outscored Wheaton, 5-2, over the final minutes to take a 32-21 lead into halftime.

Trinity kicked off the second half on a 10-5 run over the opening three minutes to build a 42-26 lead. A pair of free throws from sophomore Henry Vetter (Kenilworth, Ill.) gave the Bantams their largest lead of the game, 48-29, with 15:18 to play. Trinity kept the game out of reach down the stretch behind seven points from sophomore Jarrel Okorougo (Stoneham, Mass.) to lock up the 74-57 victory.

The Bantams had three scorers in double figures, led by a game-high 13 points and five rebounds from Okorougo. Senior Ben Callahan-Gold (New York, N.Y.) logged his first double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Smith netted 10 points, shooting 4-of-6 from the floor, with eight rebounds. Dorion added nine points and five rebounds in the win.

"I thought we didn't play very well, so it was good to come out with the win," said Trinity Head Coach James Cosgrove. "We couldn't buy a basket early and struggle to find a rhythm, but we gutted it out and kept another team under 60 points, and you have a pretty good chance to win when you do that. The second group came in and helped turn the tides for us, and I think our depth just wears teams down."

Tristan Herry led the Lyons with a team-high 12 points, five rebounds and three assists. Khaled Thaher recorded 11 points with six rebounds, and Jaden Keliher tallied nine points.
The Bantams controlled the rebounding column, 48-34, while the Lyons bench outscored Trinity, 32-24, during the contest. Trinity converted 28-of-72 (38.9%) attempts from the field, including 6-of-20 (30%) from three-point range, and 12-of-16 (75%) from the foul line. Wheaton shot 21-of-57 (36.8%) from the floor, 7-of-17 (41.2%) from three-point range, and 8-of-9 (88.9%) from free throw line.

The Bantams will look to remain unbeaten when they travel to UMass-Dartmouth for the Lafrance Hospitality Tournament at the Tripp Center. Trinity will face the host Corsairs Friday night at 7:00 p.m.