Northfield, Vt. - Junior tri-captain Kyle Padmore (Milton, Mass.) had 12 points, four assists, and three steals to lead the visiting Trinity College Bantams to a 66-59 victory over the Norwich University Cadets in the Ed Hockenbury Men's Basketball Classic Finals this afternoon.  Trinity improves to 5-2, while the Cadets drop to 3-3.  Bantam senior tri-captain forward Connor Merinder (Andover, Mass.) was named as the tournament MVP and sophomore Donald Jorden (Tampa, Fla.) joined Merinder on the all-tournament squad.  Trinity will host Springfield on Wednesday, December 5 at 7 p.m. in its next game, while Norwich visits Colby-Sawyer on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Trinity came out on fire offensively, only missing four shots from the field in the first 10 minutes of action. With less than three minutes remaining in the opening half, the Bantams built an 18-point lead at 34-16 on a pair of free throws by junior tri-captain Nick Seretta (Greenfield, Mass.).  Norwich was staring at an 18 point deficit heading into the locker room.  Trinity led, 39-25, at intermission but the Cadets scored the first five points of the second half to cut their deficit to single digits.  

Merinder nailed a three-pointer to the Bantam advantage back up to 14 at 56-42 at the eight-minute mark, but Norwich scored 10 points in a row including six on a pair of treys by Daniel Haimes to make it, 57-52, just over two minutes later.  Junior guard Joe Bell (Manchester, N.H.) ended the Bantam scoring drought with a layup, and Trinity went back ahead by 10 at 64-54 after another Merinder long ball with 1:38 on the clock. The Cadets scored five points in the final minute, but Bantam junior guard Christian Porydzy (South Glastonbury, Conn.) put the game out of reach with a pair of late free throws.

Padmore was 5-for-6 from the field and the Trinity starting five finished 16-for-28 from the floor. Jorden finished with 12 points and a team-high six rebounds, while Seretta scored 11 points, and sophomore Colin Donovan (Westborough, Mass.) added 11 points and four assists off the bench. Merinder had 12 points in Trinity's 51-49 win over Southern Vermont yesterday in the first round, and sunk all five of his three-point attempts in the tournament.  He shot 7-for-12 overall from the floor and averaged six rebounds in the two games this weekend.  Norwich was led by Jesse Davis (Woodinville, Wash.) who put up 20 points and Donovan Lewis Jr. (Savannah, Ga.) who had 12 points.  Davis also made the all-tournament squad.

All-Tournament
Dustin Simpson-Bragg - University of Maine-Augusta
Donnell Frayer Jr. - Southern Vermont College
Jesse Davis - Norwich University
Donald Jorden - Trinity College
Connor Merinder - Most Outstanding Player - Trinity College