Men’s Basketball Bounces Back After Two Overtime Losses

STEW WILLIAMS ’18
STAFF WRITER
Entering last Tuesday, the Bantams were coming off an unfavorable appearance in the Hampton Inn Classic in Dartmouth, where they suffered two overtime losses against Southern Vermont and UMass-Dartmouth. In the UMass-Dartmouth game, the Bants found themselves down 17 in the first half only to salvage the half by finishing on an 11-4 run ignited by a three-pointer by Eric Gendron ’18 that cut the Corsair lead to eight. Trinity continued the momentum out of the break and led by co-captain Ed Ogundeko ’17, the Bantams were able to outscore UMass-Dartmouth 42-34 in the half. Ogundeko’s strong effort could not break the tie, however, leaving the game even at 68 at the end of regulation. It was in overtime that the Corsairs were able to pull away, tallying a nine point lead with just over a minute to play in the period. Paul Colson ’19 cut the deficit to five with just 34 seconds left with a 3-pointer, but was ultimately not enough as the Corsairs iced the game with two free throws and walked away with an 83-76 win over the Bantams.
The game against Southern Vermont the following day proved to be a much closer competition. The Mountaineers ran up a double-digit lead against the Bantams with 10:02 left in the first, only to watch their lead dwindle away to one at the hands of Ogundeko’s 17 first- half points. The Bantams came out in the second half on a 7-2 run and bolstered their lead to eight after a three from Kyle Padmore ’20. The Mountaineers came back to tie it by the 11:11 minute mark after backto-back threes were drilled by Nate Goldsmith and Rashawn Taylor. Following a 5-0 run by Southern Vermont, the Bantams found themselves down 71-68 with 2:35 left to play. Moments later Colson nailed a three for the Bants to tie things up 73-73 with 1:08 left to play, which sent the game to overtime.
The Mountaineers were up three with less than a minute to play in overtime only to give the lead away off a turnover that resulted in a three-point play by Langdon Neal ’17. Southern Vermont then inbounded the ball with 24 seconds left on the clock and ran a play that ended in a clutch three-pointer by Goldsmith that put the Mountaineers up 83-80 with seconds left to play. Trinity was unable to answer and they lost another close one. Trinity’s Ogundeko was named to the all-tournament team following a 25-point performance accompanied by 16 boards in the loss against Southern Vermont.
The 0-2 start clearly put a fire under the Bantams, making the game against Elms College a must-win last Tuesday. Trinity did not disappoint as they pummeled the Blazers 88-59 to secure their first win of the season. Co-captain Chris Turnbull ’17 led the Bants with 27 points, going 10-16 from the field and 6-8 from downtown. Trinity dominated the first half with a 25-point lead going into halftime, shooting 55% from the field and 55.6% from beyond the arc. Ogundeko joined Turnbull in double digits with 19 and recorded his 3rd double-double of the season with 12 rebounds. After an eight day break the Bantams will face No. 19 ranked Keene State tomorrow in hopes of improving to 2-2.