HARTFORD, Conn. – The #10 Trinity College Men's Basketball team handled visiting Thomas College, 90-39, in the opening game of the 2023 Trinity College Holiday Invitational Saturday night. The Bantams improved to 12-0 on the season, while Thomas holds a 4-7 record.
Trinity opened the game on a 9-2 run, paced by five points from sophomore Jarrel Okorougo, and then junior Sean Macarchuk knocked down three straight buckets to give the Bantams a 16-3 lead at the 10:51 mark. Over the next five minutes, Trinity rattled off a 15-2 run behind five different scorers to extend the Bantams advantage to 31-5. The Bantams closed the first half with three-pointers from senior Ben Callahan-Gold, sophomore Dane Moran and first year Paul Ippolito to hold a 43-12 lead at the half.
The sides traded baskets over the opening minutes of the second half until sophomore Drew Lazarre and Macarchuk buried back-to-back three-pointers to put Trinity ahead 54-21 at the 13:42 mark. Thomas sophomore James Phelan scored six straight points to close the gap to 59-31, but the Bantams responded with a 21-3 run over the next five minutes to escort the lead to 80-34. The Bantams defense held the Terriers to five points over the final six minutes to lock up the 90-39 victory.
The Bantams had four scorers in double figures, led by 11-point efforts from graduate Dana Smith and sophomore Henry Vetter. Vetter added a game-high five assists with two rebounds, while Smith had three assists and two boards. Callahan-Gold tallied 10 points with a game-high six rebounds, and Macarchuk logged 10 points off the bench. Okorougo recorded eight points, a game-high six rebounds and three assists in the win.
The Bantams won the rebounding battle, 52-38, and outscored Thomas 42-14 in the paint, and 48-17 on bench points. Trinity converted 32-of-78 (41.0%) from the floor, including 11-of-36 (30.6%) from three-point range, and 15-of-19 (78.9%) from the foul line. The Terriers shot 13-of-56 (23.2%) from the field, 4-of-17 (23.5%) from three-point, and 9-of-13 (69.2%) from the free throw stripe.
The Bantams will be back on the court for the 2023 Trinity Holiday Invitational Championship game against Bridgewater State Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
TRINITY ATHLETICS
