Hartford, Conn. - Senior guard Joe Bell (Manchester, N.H.) scored 23 points, making nine of 14 shots from the field, and added seven rebounds to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 100-82 victory over the visiting Middlebury College Panthers in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Basketball Quarterfinals this afternoon on Ogrodnik Court in Oosting Gymnasium.  Trinity, seeded No. 4 in the tournament, improves to 17-8 and advances to the NESCAC Semifinals next weekend.  No. 5-seeded Middlebury and No. 14-ranked Middlebury drops to 20-5 with its second loss in a row, and awaits a potential at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Trinity shot a scorching 56.5 percent from the field (39-69) and 48 percent from long range (12-25), while outrebounding the Panthers, 50-32, to win going away.  Trailing, 5-0, early, Trinity scored seven points in a row on a three-pointer by senior tri-captain Kyle Padmore (Milton, Mass.) and layups by juniors Colin Donovan (Westborough, Mass.) and Donald Jorden (Tampa, Fla.) and led the rest of the way.  Rookie guard Stephen Lora (Providence, R.I.) gave Trinity its first double-digit lead at 19-9 with a jumper at the 11:36 mark, and fellow rokie Dana Smith (North Providence, R.I.) scored on a drive in the closing seconds to out the Bantams ahead, 48-34, at the break.  Donovan, Padmore, and Middlebury junior guard Jack Farrell (Verona, N.J.) each had 10 points at intermission.

Trinity senior center Jadakis Brooks (Elmira, N.Y.) opened the scoring in the second half with a bucket inside, and the Bantams continued building their advantage to as high as 24 at 78-54 with 8:39 on the clock on two Padmore free throws.   The Bantams finished with 20 field goals in 27 tries (74.1%) in the second half and cruised to their fifth triple-digit point total of the year.  Padmore finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, and 12 assists, while Donovan added 15 points and eight boards, and senior tri-captain Nick Seretta (Greenfield, Mass.) totaled 15 points and nine reboundds.  Farrell led all scorers with 29 points, while Panther junior Tom Eastman (Honey Falls, N.Y.) contributed 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds, and junior guard Max Bosco (Scarsdale, N.Y.) had 11 points.

"We had a great week of practice and went into the game with the attitude that we were going to take it right at them," said Trinity Head Coach James Cosgrove.  "Our starters came out with great intensity, and then our subs gave us a big lift when they went into the game.  The guys did a great job of not settling for jump shots and taking the ball all the way to the rim on them."