HARTFORD, Conn. – The sixth-ranked Trinity College Men's Basketball squad kicked off conference play with a 71-54 victory over visiting Middlebury College in a New England Small College Athletic Conference battle at Oosting Gymnasium Friday night. The Bantams rise to 13-1 on the season and 1-0 in NESCAC play, while the Panthers move to 0-1 in conference and 8-5 overall.
 
Trinity had five scorers record at least nine points, paced by a season-high 12 points from senior Sean Macarchuk. Junior Henry Vetter logged 11 points, four rebounds and two assists, while classmate Trevor McDonald chipped in a season-high 10 points and three rebounds. Senior Will Dorion tallied nine points, three assists and two rebounds and Junior Jarrel Okorougo had nine points with two boards. Sophomore Jared Berry registered six points with a team-high five assists and five rebounds, while junior Drew Lazarre grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. 
 
Senior Sam Stevens led the Panthers with a game-high 12 points and three rebounds. Sophomore Kuba Cwalina registered 10 points, while junior Evan Flaks added seven points. Senior David Brennan pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in the loss. 
 
Trinity grabbed an early 5-0 lead but Middlebury battled back as five straight points from Cwalina put the Panthers ahead 13-12. Three free throws from Dorion and back-to-back buckets from Macarchuk put Trinity ahead 19-13 at the 11:40 mark and they never looked back. Okorougo knocked down a jumper in the paint to extend the Bantams lead to 27-16 with 6:23 on the clock. Trinity closed the period with baskets from McDonald and Okorougo to take a 33-22 lead into halftime.
 
After a pair of jumpers from Stevens closed the gap to 38-26, the Bantams ripped off a 10-0 run, featuring four points from Macarchuk to break the game open, 48-26, with 12:32 to play. A pair of free throws from Berry put Trinity ahead, 56-31, but Middlebury orchestrated a 10-2 run to trim the deficit to 58-41 at the 6:19 mark. The Bantams halted the Panthers momentum with four-point spurts from Vetter and McDonald to make it a 66-44 game with3:55 remaining. Macarchuk added a late three-pointer to seal the 71-54 victory.
 
The Panthers edged the Bantams on the glass, 37-35, while Trinity controlled the paint, 32-14, and bench play, 34-25. The Bantams shot 24-of-59 (40.7%) from the field, including 6-of-18 (33.3%) from three-point, and 17-of-21 (81.0%) from the foul line. Middlebury connected on 20-of-56 (35.7%) of the attempts, going 6-of-23 (23.1%) from beyond the arc, and 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the free throw line. 
 
The Bantams will look to pick up another conference victory when they welcome Williams College (9-4, 0-1 NESCAC) to Oosting Gymnasium Saturday at 3:00 p.m.