HARTFORD, Conn. - The Trinity College men's basketball team, coached by James Cosgrove (13th season), has qualified for the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Basketball Championship Tournament for the 20th time and the ninth consecutive season. Trinity earned the No. 8 seed in the tournament with a 4-6 league mark and will visit Williams in a first round game on Saturday, February 18 at 4:30 p.m. The Bantams, who closed their regular season at 16-8 overall with an 82-62 win over Bates on Friday that clinched the post-season and a 74-59 loss to Tufts on Saturday, tied Amherst for eighth place in the league's final standings but earned the NESCAC No. 8 seed due to its 71-50 road victory against the Mammoths on January 28. With a win over the Ephs on Saturday, Trinity will advance to the semifinals for the 15th time and the third year in a row. 

Among other tournament games, No. 2-seeded Hamilton (21-3, 9-1) plays the No. 7-seeded Connecticut College (11-12, 3-7), No. 3-seeded Wesleyan (17-5, 7-3) plays No. 6-seeded Colby (11-13. 2-8), and No.4-seeded Middlebury (15-3, 5-3) hosts No. 5-seeded Tufts. The four quarterfinal winners will play in the NESCAC Final Four on February 25 and 26 at the site of the highest remaining seed with the winner of the league tournament earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.  Trinity, which jumped out to a 14-1 start to the 2022-23 season but is 2-7 in its last nine games, are seeded No. 8 for the first time.  The Bantams fell to the Ephs, 94-79, in Hartford on February 3 and are 0-3 versus Williams in the NESCAC Tournament series following a loss in the 2019 quarterfinals.  The Bantams won the NESCAC title in 2009 and have played in the championship game three times.

Trinity is the third-most prolific offensive team in the NESCAC with 75.2 ppg and ranks second in the conference in turnover margin at +1.92 per game.  Bantam junior captain C/F Ben Callahan-Gold (New York, N.Y..) is fourth in the league in scoring with 16.5 ppg, ninth in rebounding at 6.3 per game, and 10th in blocks with 1.0 per game.  He has made 36.8 percent of his three-point attempts (6th in NESCAC) while averaging 2.3 made per game (6th in NESCAC) and has an .800 shooting percentage from the foul line (6th in NESCAC).  Sophomore guard Will Dorian (Needham, Mass.) ranks second in the conference with a 2.5 assist/turnover ratio and third in assists with 4.6 per contest to go with 6.9 ppg. Senior captain guard C.J. Redd (Peekskill, N.Y.) averages 11.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and rookie guard Henry Vetter (Kenilworth, Ill.) adds 10.8 points and 2.5 assists per game for the Bantams, while senior captain forward Dana Smith (Providence, R.I.) averages 6.3 ppg and is tied with Callahan-Gold for the team lead in rebounds with 6.3 per game.