Hartford, Conn. – Junior center Matt Morrow (Leicester, Mass.) had 17 points, 20 rebounds, and two blocks to lead the visiting Nichols College Bison to a 66-58 win over the Trinity College Bantams in men's basketball action this afternoon at Oosting Gymnasium. Trinity drops to 4-3 with its first loss in four games, while the No. 6-ranked Bison improve to 5-0. Trinity will visit Springfield on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in its next game, while the Bison host Wentworth on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Trinity came out firing, taking a 16-2 lead in the first six minutes including six on a pair of three-pointers by senior guard Christian Porydzy (South Glastonbury, Conn.). Bantam senior co-captain Nick Seretta (Greenfield, Mass.) drilled a trey to make the score, 25-10, with 7:39 left in the first half, but Nichols closed the first half with a 15-4 run and trailed, 29-25, at the break.
Trinity maintained its advantage for over 11 minutes of the second half, leading by as many as nine points at 42-33 at the 14:18 mark on a pair of Porydzy free throws. The Bison scored the next seven points to cut their deficit to two and tied the game at 47-all on a drive by senior guard Kash Jackson (Canton, Ga.) with 9:02 on the clock. Bantam rookie forward Dana Smith (Providence, R.I.) gave the home team the lead for the last time with a free throw at the 7:30 mark to make the score, 50-49, but Nichols used a 9-2 run to go ahead, 58-52 on two free throws by senior guard DeAndre Bruton (New London, Conn.) with 2:34 left to play.
Trinity fought their way back and tied it at 58-58 just over a minute later on a long ball by junior Colin Donovan (Westborough, Mass.) and a traditional three-point play by Seretta. Bruton gave the led back to the visitors with two free throws, and Morrow made a put-back to give the visitors a four-point lead. Nichols went 6-for-6 at the foul line down the stretch, while Trinity missed its last four shots from the field in the final minute.
The Bantam defense held Nichols to 34.9 percent shooting from the field and two three-pointers in 19 attempts, but made 17 free throws in the second half on 26 attempts. Trinity was cold after the break, making just 11 of 43 shots from the field (25.6%) and three of 17 tries from beyond the arc. Seretta paced Trinity with 14 points and added eight rebounds, while fellow senior co-captain Kyle Padmore (Milton, Mass.) had 11 points, four rebounds, five assists, and two blocks. Trinity junior Donald Jorden (Tampa, Fla.) grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds, but Nichols finished with a 54-to-44 edge on the glass. Bruton and junior guard Nate Tenaglia (Tewksbury, Mass.) joined Morrow in double figures in scoring with 16 and 12 points, respectively.