Hartford, Conn. – Junior forward Alex Conaway (New Haven, Conn.) had 16 points, sinking six of eight shots from the field and four of five from the foul line, and added five rebounds to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 62-53 win over the visiting Hamilton College Continentals in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men's basketball action this evening in Oosting Gymnasium.  Trinity improves to 9-5 overall and 1-1 in the NESCAC, while the Continentals fall to 7-7 overall and 0-2 in the league.

After a three-pointer in the opening minute by Hamilton sophomore guard Matt Hart (Orchard Park, N.Y.), Conaway scored on a jumper and a layup to put Trinity ahead, 4-3, at the 18:24 mark and the Bantams led for the remaining 38-plus minutes of play.  Trinity took its biggest lead of the first half, 22-14, with 7:28 on the clock on a trey by sophomore guard Jaquann Starks (Hartford, Conn.) and led, 31-23, after another jumper by Conaway with 1:23 left before the break.  Hamilton junior forward Bradley Gifford (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored off an offensive rebound as time expired to account for a 31-25 halftime score.  Conaway led all scorers at intermission with 13 points.

Trinity took a double-digit lead, 42-30, less than four minutes into the second stanza on another long ball by Starks and kept at least a 10-point advantage until a jumper by Hamilton senior tri-captain guard Greg Newton (Barrington, R.I.) with 5:49 on the clock made the score, 52-43.  Four straight points by Hart pulled the visitors to within 52-47 a minute later, and the game was tight for the next four minutes, but Trinity iced it with 6-for-6 free-throw shooting in the final 60 seconds.

Starks joined Conaway in double figures in scoring with 13 points and added seven assists, while freshman forward Ed Ogundeko (Brooklyn, N.Y.) totaled nine points, a team-high 10 boards, and two blocks, and sophomore forward Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded eight points and eight rebounds.  Hart and Gifford finished with 16 points apiece, while Gifford also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, and Newton added nine points and five assists.