Hartford, Conn. – Senior co-captain Eric Gendron (Merrimack, N.H.) had 15 points, five rebounds, and six assists to lead the Trinity College Bantams to 69-63 win over the visiting Amherst College Mammoths in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men's basketball opener for both teams this evening at Oosting Gymnasium.  Trinity improves to 10-2 overall with its sixth victory in a row, while the Mammoths drop to 7-4 overall with their third consecutive setback.  The Bantams will host undefeated league rival Hamilton, ranked No. 24 in the nation, on Sunday at 2 p.m. Amherst visits Brandeis on Monday, January 8 at 6 p.m.

Trinity overcame a 15-5 early deficit, forcing 22 Mammoth turnovers while committing just six.  Bantam junior Jeremy Arthur (Westbury, N.Y.) added 12 points and five rebounds, while sophomore guard Christian Porydzy (South Glastonbury, Conn.) scored eight of his 11 points in the second half.  Trinity reserves scores 23 points, led by sophomore Nick Seretta (Greenfield, Mass.) with 10 points and junior Judah Woney (Harlem, N.Y.) who collected eight points and team-high six rebounds. 

Amherst rookie guard Grant Robinson (McLean, Va.) led all scorers with 19 points, while junior Joe Schneider (Longmeadow, Mass.) and sophomore Eric Sellew (Carlisle, Mass.) and scored 12 points apiece.  The Mammoths outrebounded Trinity, 51-29, including a game-high 13 by freshman Fru Che (Somerville, Mass.), 11 by senior co-captain John McCarthy (Medfield, Mass.), and 10 by Sellew.  Neither team shot better than 40 percent from the field or 30 percent from long range, although the Bantams upped their shooting clip from 34.2 percent in the first half to 46.4 percent after the break.

Sophomore Kyle Padmore (Milton, Mass.) scored all of Trinity's five points over nearly the first 10 minutes of the game, before a Gendron layup made the score, 15-7, in Amherst's favor with 10:11 on the clock.  Trinity slowly climbed back, taking a 29-28 lead with just under four minutes left before halftime on a pair of Seretta free throws, and led, 36-33, at halftime thanks to a Gendron jumper inside the final minute.  Robinson 13 points at the break for Amherst, and Gendron had nine for Trinity.

 The Bantams never trailed in the second stanza, taking its biggest lead at 57-47 midway through on a put-back by Woney, but the Mammoths made a comeback of their own with a 14-4 run over a span of nearly six minutes to tie the game at 61-all on a pair of free throws by Sellew.  Porydzy knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to give Trinity a six-point advantage inside the two-minute mark, and Trinity held on down the stretch.