Hartford, Conn. – The Trinity College men's basketball returned to action after a 23-day layoff with a 76-72 win versus Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Trailblazers in the opening game of the 2014 Trinity College Holiday Invitational on Tuesday evening on Stan Ogrodnik Court inside Ray Oosting Gymnasium. The victory was the sixth straight for the Bantams as they improved to 8-2 overall, while the Trailblazers dropped their third consecutive contest to move to 2-7 on the year.

Offensively, the Bantams were led by junior forward Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with a double-double thanks to 14 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Jaquann Starks (Hartford, Conn.) had 13 points, highlighted by an impressive 11-for-11 performance from the free-throw stripe. Senior tri-captain George Papadeas (Athens, Greece) added 13 points and pulled down eight boards off the bench for Trinity.  MCLA was paced by Kenny Suggs with a game-high 16 points and three other Trailblazers scored in double figures, as guard Ruben Delroasario netted 14, Paul Maurice poured in 11 and Careem Kirksey contributed 10.

In the first half, both teams got in a foul trouble as they combined for 30 personal fouls. At the line, the Bantams took advantage, knocking down 22-of-25, while the Trailblazers hit 15-of-21. Trinity was cold early in the contest, shooting just over 30 percent (8-of-26) from the field, but on the defensive end the Bantams caused eight turnovers. After a slow start, the Bantams built a double-digit lead after a pair of free throws from junior guard Rick Naylor (Sudbury, Vt.) 9:30 into play and held the advantage through the remainder of the opening half. After the opening minutes, Trinity never trailed and they led by as many 15 after a trey from Naylor with three minutes left in the half. MCLA closed out the first half on a 9-0 run following Naylor's three pointer to enter the break with a six-point deficit.

Trinity opened the second half on a 5-0 run over the first four minutes before MCLA answered with a pair of free throws to make it 46-37. The Bantams defense was swarming in the second half, as they held the Trailblazers without a field goal for the first 7:30 to build a 54-41 advantage. With under seven minutes remaining, MCLA erased an 11-point deficit to take a 67-66 lead on a three from Careem Kirksey with four minutes left. Starks took over from there for the Bantams, scoring their next five points to give the hosts a 71-68 edge. With under a minute left in the contest, Trinity grabbed an offensive board and, with the shot clock turned off, Naylor was fouled and knocked down one of two to give Trinity a 72-68 lead. Down the stretch, Starks tallied the final four points in the game at the free throw line, as the Bantams would hold off a feverish rally from the visitors.