Middletown, Conn. – In a game that featured eight second-half lead changes and no more than a five-point differential between the squads over the final 20 minutes, visiting Trinity College stayed atop the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men's basketball standings with a hard-fought 65-61 win over Wesleyan University on Friday night inside Silloway Gymnasium. With their fourth straight victory, the Bantams improve to 17-5 overall and 7-1 in conference play, while the Cardinals moved to 14-7 on the year and 3-4 in league tilts.

The Bantams overcame their largest deficit of the second half, trailing 53-49 with 6:52 remaining, by rattling off eight straight points, including three-pointers from juniors Rick Naylor (Sudbury, Vt.) and Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.), to take the lead for good and hold a 57-53 margin with 3:34 left.  After a trey from junior Jack Mackey got Wesleyan back within a point, 57-56, Trinity netted the next four points, a traditional three-point play from junior guard Jaquann Starks (Hartford, Conn.) and a free throw by senior Hart Gliedman (New York, N.Y.), for a 61-56 advantage with 1:03 on the clock. 

The Cardinals countered with a three-pointer, this time from junior BJ Davis, making it 61-59 with 50 seconds to go.  It was a 62-61 game with 31 ticks showing on the clock after a Bantam free throw by Ajayi and Wesleyan free throws from Davis and sophomore Joseph Kuo.  Down the stretch, the Cardinals missed a pair of three-point attempts in the final 17 seconds and the Bantams got two free throws from junior guard Andrew Hurd (Windsor, Conn.) and one more from Gliedman for the final four-point win.

Each team recovered from a substantial deficit in the first half as Wesleyan jumped out to a 10-2 lead after four and a half minutes of action.  With the score in Wesleyan's favor, 18-10, the Bantams went on a 13-0 tear, led by three treys from Naylor, who finished with a game-high 17 points, going 5-for-6 from behind the arc, for a 23-18 lead.  Trinity extended the run to 22-4 en route to its largest lead, 32-22, with 4:15 left in the opening period.  Wesleyan ended the frame on an 8-1 run to make it 33-30 at halftime, then took the lead back, 38-37, on a Kuo putback with 16:13 on the second-half clock.  That began a series of seven lead changes in a span of five minutes.

Joining Naylor in double-digits for the Bantams was Ajayi with 12 along with nine rebounds to tie for the team-lead with sophomore forward Ed Ogundeko (Brooklyn, N.Y.).  Starks added 11 points, while Hurd had five assists for the Bantams and Naylor chipped in with four.

This was the 189th all-time meeting of the in-state conference rivals.  Trinity leads the series by a narrow 97-92 margin.

The Bantams conclude a weekend of road NESCAC action tomorrow, Feb. 7, with a game versus Connecticut College at 3:00 p.m.