HARTFORD, Conn. – The 13th-ranked Trinity College Men's Basketball team downed visiting Western New England University, 84-46, in a non-conference game at Oosting Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Bantams improve to an 11-0 record for the first time since 2003-04, while the Golden Bears drop to 6-4 overall.
Points came at a premium early in the first half as a relentless Bantams defense held the Golden Bears scoreless for the opening seven minutes of play as Trinity grabbed an early 9-0 lead. Back-to-back three-pointer from sophomore Drew Lazarre and junior Sean Macarchuk to extend the lead to 15-3 midway through the half. Leading 21-6 at the 7:53 mark, Trinity senior Ben Callahan-Gold erupted for 14 straight points, including a trio of three-pointers, to push the Bantams ahead 29-6 with 5:19 on the clock. Callahan-Gold added six points over the final minutes of the half to hand the Bantams a 48-19 lead at the break.
Callahan-Gold and sophomore Henry Vetter knocked down a pair of early threes to extend Trinity's lead to 56-21. The Bantams continued to cruise through the second half as the Bantams second unit hit the floor for the final 10 minutes. First year Paul Ippolito chipped in seven points down the stretch to send the Bantams to the 84-46 victory.
Callahan-Gold paced the Bantams offense with a game-high 25 points, shooting 7-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-10 from three-point, with eight rebounds and a game-high five blocks. Sophomore Henry Vetter logged a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while classmate Jarrel Okorougo tallied 11 points, four assists and three rebounds. Graduate Dana Smith added 10 points, eight rebounds and a game-high five assists.
The Bantams outrebounded the Golden Bears, 49-31, and won the battle in paint, 36-24, during the contest. Trinity connected on 30-of-67 (44.8%) from the field, including 11-of-31 (35.5%) from three-point range, and 13-of-16 (81.3%) from the foul line. Western New England shot 18-of-59 (30.5%) from the floor, 6-of-23 (26.1%) from beyond the arc, and 4-of-5 (80%) from the charity stripe.
The Bantams returned to the floor following the holiday break when they host the Trinity Holiday Invitational on December 30-31, welcoming Thomas College, Bridgewater State and FDU-Florham to Oosting Gymnasium. The Bantams open the Invitational against Thomas December 30th at 5:30 p.m.
TRINITY ATHLETICS
