Trinity Hands Men's Basketball 78-66 Loss in Holiday Tournament Opener

Courtesy of Trinity College Athletics

Hartford, Conn.| Sophomore Jeremy Arthur (Westbury, N.Y.) had a game-high 20 points and four rebounds to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 78-66 victory over the visiting St. Joseph's College Golden Eagles in the opening round of the Trinity College Men's Basketball Holiday Invitational this evening at Oosting Gymnasium.  Trinity, playing its first game in 20 days, improves to 6-4 and advances to the tournament finals tomorrow at 2 p.m. against the Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors.  St. Joseph's (L.I.) faces the Manhattanville College Valiants tomorrow at noon in the third-place game, as the Warriors downed the Valiants, 70-56, in the second game this evening.

With the score tied at 48-all, Trinity used a 6-0 run in the middle of the second half to go ahead, 54-48, with 8:34 remaining and eventually increased its advantage to doubled digits in the final three minutes.  Bantam junior Eric Gendron (Merrimack, N.H.) hit a mid-range jumper to put the home team up, 50-48, followed by a put-back and a pair of free throws by sophomore Connor Merinder (North Andover, Mass.) completed the spurt.  St. Joseph's junior forward Dan Brzozka (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) cut the Trinity lead to 56-53 with a trey from the corner with 7:37 on the clock, but Bantam senior guard Langdon Neal (Chicago, Ill.) hit a jumper to ignite an 8-0 run.  An Arthur layup gave Trinity a 70-59 lead with 3:10 left to play, and the Bantam lead was comfortable the rest of the way.

Trinity had led for the entire first half, including a 30-21 advantage with 5:27 on the clock after a three-pointer by Gendron, but Golden Eagle senior guard Dan Nappi (Lake Grove, N.Y.) scored the last five points before the break to pull the visitors to within one at 34-33.  St. Joseph's took its only lead, 42-41, less than five minutes into the second stanza on a trey by junior forward Isaiah Moore (North Babylon, N.Y.).  The Bantams scored seven in a row on two Gendron free throws, a long ball by senior co-captain Chris Turnbull (Ridgewood, N.J.), and a steal and layup by first-year forward Kyle Padmore (Milton, Mass.) to go back ahead, 48-42, and the visitors answered with six in a row to tie it for the last time with 10:42 remaining on two free throws by senior guard Fernando Vasquez (San Juan, Puerto Rico).

Trinity shot 52.8 percent from the field, 81.8 percent from the foul line, and finished with a 31-to-24 edge on the glass, while holding the Golden Eagles to 38.9 percent shooting from the floor.  The teams combined for 34 turnovers and made just 11 three-pointers in 40 attempts between them.  Turnbull joined Arthur in double digits in scoring for Trinity with 15 points to go with four assists, while Gendron scored 12 points, Merinder finished with 10 points, a team-high five rebounds, and three steals, and Neal dished a game-high six assists to go with nine points and four rebounds.  Moore paced St. Joseph's with 17 points and six steals, while freshman forward Frank Basile (Islip, N.Y.) had 13 points and a team-high five rebounds off the bench, and senior guard Andy Laurent (Amityville, N.Y.) added 12 points and four assists.