Hartford, Conn. – The Trinity College Bantams used a 51-point second half, after managing just 19 points before the break, to down the visiting Wesleyan University Cardinals, 70-65, in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men's basketball action this evening in Oosting Gymnasium.  Trinity snaps a three-game losing streak and improves to 12-9 overall and 4-4 in the NESCAC, while the Cardinals drop to 10-11 overall and 3-4 in the conference with their first loss in five games.

Trinity trailed, 26-19, at halftime but scored the first 12 points of the second stanza to go ahead, 31-26, at the 15:46 mark on a drive by sophomore forward Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.).  Wesleyan hung close, cutting the Bantam lead to 41-39 on a trey by freshman guard Harry Rafferty (Dubuque, Iowa) with 11 minutes left.  Trinity scored nine of the next 11 points and led, 50-41, after a jumper by sophomore guard Jaquann Starks (Hartford, Conn.) with 6:38 on the clock.  A drive by rookie guard B.J. Davis (Hamden, Conn.) made the score, 63-60, with a minute remaining, but junior Hart Gliedman (New York, N.Y.) and sophomore Rick Naylor (Sudbury, Vt.) made seven of eight free throws down the stretch to seal it for the Bantams.  Trinity had led, 11-7, at the 12-minute mark of the first half after back-to-back buckets by junior co-captain center George Papadeas (Athens, Greece), but Wesleyan scored seven of the final nine points before intermission. 

Papadeas led the Bantam offense with 13 points, sinking six of nine shots from the field, and added eight rebounds and two blocks, while rookie forward Ed Ogundeko (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 12 points and two blocks, and Ajayi finished with 11 points and five boards.  Starks recorded five rebounds and five assists, while junior co-captain forward Steve Spirou (Pelham, N.H.) contributed seven points, eight boards, and five assists.  Trinity shot 53.6 percent from the field (15-28) in the second half, after making just seven of 28 shots from the floor in the first half, and sank 19 of 25 free throws after halftime.  The Bantams outboarded the Cardinals, 45-31.  Rafferty scored 13 of his game-high 15 points in the second half, while Davis scored 13 points, Edmonds had 12 points, and sophomore guard Jack Mackey (Warwick, N.Y.) added 10 points for Wesleyan.  The Cardinals shot 80 percent from the foul line (20-for-25).