HARTFORD, Conn. – The fifth-ranked Trinity College Men's Basketball squad used a suffocating defensive effort in the second half to capture an 84-43 victory over visiting Yeshiva University at Oosting Gymnasium Sunday afternoon. The Bantams improve to 6-0 overall, while the Maccabees dip to 3-2 on the season.
 
The Bantams had six players with at least seven points, led by a game-high 19 points, a game-high five rebounds and three assists from junior Henry Vetter. Senior Will Dorion tallied nine points with three assists and three steals, while classmate Sean Macarchuk added eight points off the bench. Junior Jarrel Okorougo registered eight points with four rebounds, two rebounds and two blocks. Junior Drew Lazarre had seven points, four rebounds and three assists, and sophomore Jared Berry logged seven points in the win.
 
Yeshiva was paced by junior Zevi Samet with a team-high 12 points, five rebounds and three assists. Junior Or Sundjyvsky and senior `Max Zakheim recorded seven points and two rebounds.
 
The first half proved to be a tightly contested affair with no more than five points separating the teams. Trinity took an early 6-2 lead behind buckets from Okorougo and sophomore Tristan Davis. The Maccabees pulled even at 10-10 behind a layup from Samet, but a three-pointer from Macarchuk regained a 17-13 lead for Trinity at the 10:47 mark. After a bucket from sophomore Luke Cronin gave the Maccabees their lone lead of the game, 18-17, the Bantams used an 8-2 run featuring six points from Vetter to build a 25-20 advantage. Yeshiva utilized a 7-2 run to knot the game at 27-27 with 2:25 on the clock, but Trinity closed the period with baskets from Vetter and junior Trevor McDonald to take a 32-27 lead into halftime.
 
The Bantams defense was a force in the second half, limiting Yeshiva to three points over the opening ten minutes of the frame. Trinity raced to a 47-27 lead with a 15-0 run, powered by three-pointers from Dorion, Vetter and Lazarre. Vetter and Macarchuk netted five points apiece to escort the Bantams advantage to 65-30 with 9:57 to play. The Bantams knocked down 7-of-8 free throws to hold a 74-41 lead at the 5:16 mark. First-years David Ayles, Samuel Norris and Marley Stewart added late buckets to send Trinity to the 84-43 win.
 
"Great win for the team tonight," said Trinity Head Coach James Cosgrove. "The guys came out and played hard. [Yeshiva] is a high-scoring, high-octange offensive team. The average around 80 points per game, so for us to hold them to 16 points in the second half is huge. I think our team defense and our togetherness on the court made the difference today. I think we wore them down some [in the second half]. I think we are in great condition and our guys can get up-and-down the floor which wore them down. Then we made some shots early in the second half that took the lead from 5-to-15-to-20 right away, and we didn't relent on our defense which is huge. We have another tough team on Tuesday. Regis is a scrappy team, so we'll start planning for them tonight and come out ready to play on Tuesday.
 
The Bantams dominated Yeshiva on the glass (32-19), in the paint (40-20), and off the bench (36-13), during the contest. Trinity connected on 29-of-55 (51.7%) from the field, including 9-of-18 (50%) from three-point range, and 17-of-19 (89.5%) from the foul line. The Maccabees shot 16-of-48 (33.3%) from the floor, 4-of-21 (19%) from three-point, and 7-of-11 (63.6%) from the free throw stripe.
 
The Bantams will return to action when they host Regis College Tuesday night. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.
 
TRINITY ATHLETICS