MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The second-seeded Trinity College Men's Basketball team Tufts University, 71-54, in the semifinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Basketball Championship Tournament, hosted at Wesleyan University, Saturday afternoon. The Bantams (23-3) will return to the NESCAC Men's Basketball Championship game for the second straight season to take on top-ranked Wesleyan University (26-0) Sunday afternoon at Noon.
 
The Bantams had four scorers in double figures, led by a game-high 14 points and three rebounds from senior Will Dorion. Junior Drew Lazarre pulled down a game-high nine rebounds with 11 points and a game-high four assists, while classmate Henry Vetter tallied 11 points with five rebounds and two assists. Junior Jarrel Okorougo notched 10 points and eight rebounds, sophomore Tristan Davis grabbed eight rebounds and senior Sean Macarchuk scored eight points in the win.
 
Joshua Bernstein paced the Jumbos with a team-high 11 points and seven rebounds. James Morakis netted 10 points, while Scott Gymesi registered a game-high 11 rebounds with a game-high six assists and six points.
 
The Jumbos grabbed an early 7-1 lead behind five points from Joshua Bernstein, but a triple from junior Paul Jordan capped a 10-4 run by Trinity to even the score at 11-11 with 10:18 on the clock. Okorougo knocked down back-to-back jumpers to ignite a 15-0 run by Trinity to grab a 26-14 lead with 5:51 remaining in the half. A jumper from Morakis trimmed the deficit to 28-21, but Trinity closed the frame on a 8-4 run to take a 36-25 lead into the break.
 
The Bantams carried their momentum into the second half as three-pointers from Lazarre and Dorion helped expand the gap to 46-27 with 17:34 to play. Macarchuk sandwiched a pair of three-points around buckets from Vetter and sophomore Jared Berry as Trinity pushed the lead to 56-34 at the 11:24 mark. A layup from Vetter with 3:11 remaining gave the Bantams their largest lead of the game, 67-41, and then used baskets from sophomore Paul Ippolito and first-year David Ayles to seal the win.
 
The Bantams dominated the glass, 50-33, and held the edge off the bench, 25-15, while both sides recorded 22 points in the paint. Trinity shot 24-of-63 (38.1%) from the field, including 9-of-22 (40.9%) from three-point range, and 17-of-21 (81%) from the foul line. Tufts connected on 19-of-58 (32.8%) from the floor, 7-of-25 (28%) from three-point, and 6-of-13 (46.2%) from the free throw stripe.
 
TRINITY ATHLETICS