The Trinity College Men's Basketball squad advanced to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Elite Eight for the first time since 2014-15 with a 70-53 win over Tufts University in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Tournament Sweet 16 battle at Oosting Gymnasium Friday night.
The Bantams improve to 29-1 on the season and will face Calvin University for a spot in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Final Four Saturday at 7:45 p.m. The Jumbos wrap their season with a 21-8 record.
Sophomore Henry Vetter poured in a career-high 28 points, including 25 second-half points, with five rebounds and a game-high four assists. Senior Ben Callahan-Gold chipped in 10 points with four rebounds, while junior Will Dorion added nine points, five rebounds and three assists. Graduate Dana Smith and sophomore Jarrel Okorougo grabbed a team-high seven rebounds each in the win.
Tufts was paced by ten-point efforts from junior Khai Champion and first-year Jon Medley. Sophomore Scott Gyimesi pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds with five points.
The teams traded the lead four times over the opening five minutes with a layup from sophomore James Morakis putting the Jumbos ahead 10-7 at the 14:46 mark. Trailing 13-9 at the 12:01 mark, the Bantams gained control with a 10-2 run, capped by a pair of triples from Callahan-Gold, to hold a 19-15 lead with 7:10 on the clock. Trinity used three-pointers from junior Sean Macarchuk and Vetter to take a 25-21 lead into halftime.
The Jumbos opened the second half on a 7-2 run to grab a 28-27 lead with 18:04 to play. The sides exchanged the lead four times over the next seven minutes as a three-pointer from first-year Liam Kennelly gave Tufts a 39-37 lead with 11:43 on the clock. Vetter erupted for 10 straight points to hand the Bantams a lead they wouldn't surrender, 49-41, with 6:35 remaining in the half. A three-pointer from Dorion put Trinity ahead double digits, 54-44. Vetter scored eight of the next 10 points for the Bantams as the lead expanded to 64-49 with less than two minutes to play. Vetter and Dorion knocked down six free throws down the stretch to lock up the 70-53 win for Trinity.
The Jumbos outrebounded the Bantams, 47-37, during the game. Trinity connected on 20-of-57 (35.1%) from the floor, including 10-of-23 (43.5%) from three-point, and 20-of-27 (74.1%) from the foul line. Tufts shot 20-of-63 (31.7%) from the field, 6-of-28 (21.4%) from beyond the arc, and 7-of-10 (70%) from the free throw line.