Springfield, Mass. – The Trinity College Bantams made a ferocious comeback from a 19-point deficit in the second half but fell short at the end of a 60-55 loss to the Springfield College Pride in the second game of the 2011 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase this evening at MassMutual Center. Trinity, drops to 5-3, while the Pride improves to 6-2 with their first win in three games.

Down 34-15 with less than two minutes into the second half, Trinity battled all the way back to a 56-55 deficit with one minute left after two straight buckets by freshman center George Papadeas (Athens, Greece). After back-to-back-to-back turnovers, Trinity had possession with 25 seconds and freshman guard Varun Ram (Clarkville, Md.) missed on a reverse layup to take Trinity's first lead since early in the first half. Trinity freshman forward Alex Conaway (New Haven, Conn.) rebounded the ball, but was blocked by Pride senior tri-captain center Ryan Coburn (West Warwick, R.I.) who ended the game with a pair of free throws.

Springfield opened up a 9-3 lead 12 eight minutes into the game, but Trinity used an 8-1 run to take an 11-10 lead on a pair of free throws by sophomore swingman Eric Dean (Gilford, N.H.) midway through the first half. The Pride answered with a 15-4 spurt to close the half, holding Trinity to 4-for-29 shooting from the field before the break. All four Bantam field goals in the first stanza were from long range, as Trinity was 4-for-17 from beyond the arc and committed 12 turnovers.

Springfield scored the first nine points of the second half to go ahead by 19 for its largest lead of the game, but a pair of treys by Ram, a traditional three-point play by senior captain center Chris Applegate (High Point, N.C.), and a three-pointer from the right wing by Dean highlighted a 15-4 run that cut the deficit to single digits at 40-31 at the 13:51 mark. Trailing, 56-48, with 4:26 on the clock, Trinity scored seven unanswered points to get to 56-55.

Ram led the Bantams with 15 points, making 5 of 12 attempts from three-point range, and added four rebounds, while Dean finished with 13 points and a game-high 10 boards. Coburn led all scorers with 16 points to go with nine rebounds and seven blocks. Springfield senior guard Jordan Rote (Sheffield, Mass.) added 11 points and three steals.