HARTFORD, Conn. – The 12^th-ranked Trinity College Men's Basketball team dropped a nail-bitter to visiting Wesleyan University, 72-63, in a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) clash at Oosting Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. The Bantams slide to 15-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play, while the Cardinals remain undefeated at 19-0 and 5-0 in the NESCAC.
 
Junior Drew Lazarre powered the Bantams with a game-high 21 points, shooting 7-of-12 from field and tied a career-high with four three-pointers, with nine rebounds, a game-high five assists and two steals. First-year David Ayles netted a career-high 11 points with a career-high two blocks, while junior Jarrel Okorougo grabbed a game-high ten rebounds with eight points and two blocks.
 
Wesleyan had three scorers in double figures, led by senior Shane Regan with 17 points and two rebounds. Sophomore Ben Lyttle tallied 16 points with eight rebounds, and senior Nicky Johnson added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.
 
Lazarre netted seven straight points to hand the Bantams a 7-2 lead in the opening minutes of the game. Back-to-back buckets from Johnson trimmed the gap to 7-6, but Okorougo and Ayles delivered a pair of layups to rebuild a 14-7 lead at the 12:35 mark. The Cardinals battled back with an 11-0 run to harness a 18-14 lead. A five-point spurt from Lazarre and a triple from Ayles put Trinity back on top, 24-18, with 3:54 on the clock. Regan and Lazarre exchanged late three-pointers as Trinity took a 27-25 lead into the break.
 
The Cardinals opened the second half with a 13-6 run, featuring six points from Johnson, to grab a 39-33 lead. Trinity rallied as senior Sean Macarchuk poured in eight points to knot the score at 43-43 with 10:48 to play. Tied 48-48, the Cardinals created separation with a 19-7 run, powered by eight points from Lyttle, to put Wesleyan ahead 67-55 with 2:05 on the clock. Trinity mounted a final comeback with an 8-2 run behind a three-point play from Ayles and a trey from junior Henry Vetter to close the gap to 69-63, but the Cardinals held off the rally from the free throw line to hold onto the 72-63 win.
 
The squads finished even in the rebounding column, 33-33, while Wesleyan held the edge in the paint, 34-26, and the Trinity reserves outscored the Cardinals bench, 25-9. The Bantams connected on 23-of-64 (35.9%) from the field, including 9-of-32 (28.1%) from beyond the arc, and 8-of-11 (72.7%) from the foul line. Wesleyan shot 23-of-52 (44.2%) from the floor, 5-of-17 (29.4%) from three-point, and 21-of-30 (70%) from the free throw stripe.
 
The Bantams will return to the floor with a non-conference road trip to Bridgewater State (7-11) Tuesday, January 28 at 7:00 p.m.