HARTFORD, Conn. – The fourth-ranked Trinity College Men's Basketball team defeated visiting Neumann University, 76-60, in the First Round of the 2025 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Tournament at Oosting Gymnasium Friday night. The Bantams improve to 25-3 on the season, while the Knights finish with a 20-8 mark.
 
The Bantams had three players in double figures, led by junior Henry Vetter with a team-high 21 points, eight rebounds and a game-high eight assists. Jarrel Okorougo netted 19 points with three rebounds, while sophomore Tristan Davis registered his first career double-double with 12 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and a game-high five blocks. Senior Will Dorion added seven points and three assists, and sophomore Jared Berry chipped in six points and four rebounds in the win.
 
With the win, the Bantams advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Tournament to face Keene State (23-5) at Oosting Gymnasium Saturday at 7:10 p.m. Tickets go on sale on Saturday at Noon.
 
Junior DJ Earl paced the Knights with a game-high 25 points with two assists. Junior Donte Dupriest added six points, four rebounds and four assists, while TJ Lewis chalked up eight points and team-high seven rebounds.
 
The pace was slow out of the games as the sides combined for 19 points in the opening seven minutes with Neumann holding a slight edge, 11-8. At the 12:30 mark, Berry grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for the fast break layup to give Trinity the 12-11 lead. The Bantams outscored the Knights, 10-1, over the next seven minutes, capped by a three-pointer from Vetter to hand Trinity the 22-12 advantage. Neumann battled back with a 12-5 run, featuring back-to-back buckets from Dupriest and sophomore Jarell Keel to trim the gap to 27-24 with 2:51 on the clock. Trinity senior Sean Macarchuk and Earl exchanged triples, and then a buzzer-beating floater from Dupriest put the Knights down two, 32-30, at the break.
 
Trinity sophomore Tristan Davis netted four quick points to open the second half with Trinity leading 40-34 with 16:13 to play. The Bantams continued to apply pressure on both ends of the floor, forcing multiple Knight turnovers as Trinity pushed the lead to 54-38 with a 14-4 run. A trey from Lewis and a trio of free throws from Earl cut the gap to 56-47 with nine minutes remaining, but the Bantams pulled away with a 16-4 run, powered by nine points from Okorougo, en route to the 76-60 victory.
 
The Bantams dominated the rebounding column, 43-27, and controlled the paint, 28-24, while the Trinity bench outscored the Neumann reserves, 14-10. Trinity shot 40.6% (26-64) from the field, 6-of-27 (22.2%) from three-point, and 18-of-20 (90%) from the foul line. The Knights connected on 20-of-51 (39.2%) from the field, including 41.7% (5-of-12) from beyond the arc, and 75% (15-of-20) from the free throw stripe.