Clinton, N.Y. - The visiting Trinity College Bantams fell just short in a valiant upset bid against the No. 5-ranked Hamilton College Continentals in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men's basketball action this afternoon at Scott Field House. Trinity had the ball with nine seconds remaining and the score tied but the referees whistled a palming violation to give the ball back to the home team, and Continental senior Andrew Groll rolled in the clinching hook shot with 0.8 seconds remaining in the contest.  Trinity drops to 9-5 overall and 0-2 in the NESCAC, while Hamilton is now 13-0 overall and 1-0 in the league.  Trinity hosts NESCAC rival Bowdoin in its next game on Friday, January 11 at 7 p.m. and Hamilton visits Wesleyan on Friday at 7 p.m.

The Bantams jumped out to a commanding 19-4 lead with 13:47 remaining in the first half before Hamilton junior guard Kena Gilmour scored all eight points in an 8-3 Hamilton run to make the score 22-12 at 11:12. Junior guard Christian Porydzy (South Glastonbury, Conn.) and six points and junior tri-captain Nick Seretta (Greenfield, Mass.) added five during the Trinity run.  Seretta and sophomore forward Donald Jordan (Tampa, Fla.) banked in back-to-back layups to give the Bantams a 32-19 edge at the 5:35 mark.  The home team answered with a 10-0 run to cut its deficit to 32-29 just over three minutes later, and Trinity clung to a 36-34 lead at the break.  Both Jorden and Seretta had 10 points at halftime.

Neither team gained larger then a five-point lead for the remainder of the contest. The Bantams scored nine unanswered points, including six by Seretta, giving them their largest lead of the second half at 50-45 with 12:57 left on the clock. Hamilton senior Michael Grassey responded with a basket from beyond the arc to kick start a 9-1 Hamilton run. Continental junior Sayo Denloye followed with another three to tie the game at 51-all and Grassey ended the streak with another jumper from deep range at 11:02. Jorden gave Trinity a 61-59 lead with a layup at the 5:18 mark and the visitors led for the next 4:40 until a Gilmour layup in traffic tied the game at 70-all with 32 seconds remaining. 

Seretta scored a game-high 20 points, while Jorden tallied 19 points and 11 boards. Trinity senior tri-captain forward Connor Merinder (Andover, Mass.) finished with 10 points, and Porydzy added eight points and four assists.  Grassey led Hamilton (13-0, 1-0 NESCAC) with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Gilmour had 15 points. Groll totaled 15 points and eight rebounds, and Denloye added 12 points off the bench.