Hartford, Conn. – First-year forward Patrick Stewart (Bangor, Maine) scored a game-high 18 points and added team-highs of six rebounds and two blocked shots to lead the visiting Colby College Mules to a 74-63 victory over the Trinity College Bantams in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men's basketball action this evening at Ray Oosting Gymnasium. The Bantams drop to 7-10 overall and 1-3 in the NESCAC with their second loss in a row, while Colby improves to 5-9 overall and 2-2 in the league with its first win in three games.

Colby sophomore tri-captain guard Connor Neil (Freeport, Maine) answered a lay-up by Trinity sophomore center George Papadeas (Athens, Greece) on the game's opening possession with a three-pointer on the first Mule possession, and the visitors did not trail the rest of the way. Colby led, 22-3, halfway through the opening stanza and, 43-11, with just over one minute remaining until the break, before two free throws by Trinity junior forward Alex Conaway (New Haven, Conn.) and a drive by classmate Jamil Ebo (Bloomfield, Conn.) made the score, 43-15 at halftime. The Mules made 17 of 28 shots from the field, four of nine from long range, and five of their six free throws while holding Trinity to 4-for-25 field goal shooting in the first. Mule rookie forward Sam Willson (Watertown, Conn.) scored all nine of his points before halftime. The Bantams missed all seven of their three-point attempts in the first 20 minutes and were outrebounded, 19-14.

Trinity rebounded in the second half and trailed, 62-51, with 4:20 left on the clock, after a traditional three-point play by sophomore guard Hart Gliedman (New York, N.Y.), but the Mules answered with an 8-3 run and maintained a double-digit lead until the final buzzer. Trinity freshman guard Jacquann Starks (Hartford, Conn.) scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half, while Papadeas finished with 12 points and six rebounds, and Gliedman added seven points and six boards. Trinity made five of eight from deep in the second half but missed eight of 19 from the foul line over the second 20 minutes. Sophomore guard Dan Chase (Weston, Conn.) had 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists, while classmate Shane Rogers (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) added eight points and a game-high nine assist for Colby.