Worcester, Mass. - The visiting Trinity College Bantams suffered a painstaking overtime loss to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Engineers in men's basketball action this evening at Harrington Auditorium. Trinity drops to 9-5 with its second straight defeat, while No. 24-ranked Worcester Tech runs its record to 11-3 with its fourth victory in a row.

Trinity took its first lead of the game at 46-45 with 6:01 remaining in regulation on a three-pointer from freshman guard Carter Trent (Little Rock, Ark.). Jaime Shannon (Lowell, Mass.) hit a layup to tie the game at 51-51 with 1:26 left, and Trinity immediately answered with a layup from sophomore Eric Dean (Gilford, N.H.) to regain the lead. With 29 seconds left, Marco Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) tied the game with a pair of free throws, Dean's open three-point try from the right wing as time expired went in and out as the game went into overtime tied at 53.

The extra period was a thrilling seesaw match as the teams traded baskets in the early going. Trinity junior guard Cameron Sutton (Queens, N.Y.) scored the first points of the extra frame on a layup in traffic. Later, Shannon tied the game at 57-57 on a jumper, and Ryan Kolb (Southington, Conn.) made a layup to give WPI its first lead of the extra period at 59-57. A Shannon layup gave WPI a 63-59 lead with 1:06 remaining, but two Bantam free throws by Sutton closed the Trinity deficit to a bucket. Sutton went on to draw a charge defensively on the baseline on the ensuing possession and fed Trent for a go-ahead three-ball from the left corner to give the Bantams a 64-63 advantage. A jumper in the lane by Shannon didn't fall, and WPI was forced to foul. Dean made one of two free throws to make the score, 65-63, Trinity's favor with nine seconds left. The Trinity defense forced WPI senior David Brown (Lowell, Mass.) into a long three-pointer that rimmed out with two seconds remaining, but a foul was called on the shot. Brown hit all three shots, and Trinity freshman Varun Ram's (Clarkville, Md.) long thre-pointer at the buzzer fell short.

Worcester Tech had held 30-14 with 3:15 remaining in the first half, but Bantams responded with an 8-0 capped off by a three-pointer from junior Mick DiStasio (Yarmouth, Maine). WPI went into halftime up 32-22, led by Matt Carr (Somersworth, N.H.) who scored nine points. The hosts shot 50 percent from the floor in the first stanza, but were forced into 11 turnovers. Trinity opened the second half on an 8-2 tear, capped off by a layup from rookie center George Papadeas (Athens, Greece) with 15:28 left in the second period. Minutes later, Trinity cut the lead to 41-39 when Dean hit a three-pointer. A put-back by senior captaij center Chris Applegate (High Point, N.C.) tied the game at 43-43 setting the stage for the back-and-forth ending.

Dean led Trinity with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Applegate was a presence inside with 10 points and nine boards. Papadeas also pulled down nine rebounds to go along with eight points, and Sutton added 10 points off the Bantam bench. Trinity enjoyed a 43-30 edge on the boards. Carr led the Engineers with 15 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Shannon added 14 points and a pair of blocks Brown tallied 13 points and five rebounds, and Coppola racked up ten points, five rebounds and three steals.