HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Trinity College Bantams used an explosive offensive attack to defeat the Bates men's basketball team 114-78 Saturday afternoon in NESCAC action.
The first half saw Bates (11-10, 3-5 NESCAC) jump ahead through outside shooting from senior Jeff Spellman (Boston, Mass.), putting the Bobcats up 16-9 with just over five minutes played. Trinity cut the lead down after a step-back jumper from Stephen Lora and a corner arc three from Colin Donovan. Kyle Padmore leveled the scoring for Trinity at the 10:10 mark after blowing by his defender before finishing with a right-handed layup. The Bantams secured a 29-25 lead on Nick Seretta's fade-away jump shot with 7:40 to play.
The Bantams and Bobcats would continue to trade baskets before Christian Porydzy hit a pair of threes, including one from the corner, to edge the Trinity lead to 11 with just over one minute left in the first period the Bantam's largest of the game to that point. The Bantams headed into the halftime break ahead of the Bobcats, 51-43.
The second half of play was a different story, with Trinity holding the Bobcats to just 32% from the floor. The Bantams (15-7, 5-3 NESCAC) found success inside the paint with hook shots from Donald Jorden and Jadakis Brooks, to keep Trinity in front by seven with 14:10 left. Bobcat first-year Omar Sarr (Dakar, Senegal) answered with inside shots of his own, but Trinity sustained its lead through three-pointers from Porydzy and Joe Bell, keeping Bates down by ten with 11:30 to go. After the halfway mark in the second period, Trinity's offense spurred a 35 to 13 run which included efficient shooting from Porydzy, Donovan, and Seretta, putting Trinity up by 33 points with under three minutes left in regulation.
Seretta finished with a game-high 22 points, adding five rebounds and two assists. Donovan finished with 19 of his own, nine of which came from beyond the arc, to cap off a game-high five assists. Brooks and Padmore paced Trinity with 15 and 10 respectively, as well as tying each other for a game-high six rebounds. Porydzy rounded off the double-digit scorers for the Bantams, showcasing a highly-efficient 14-point game which saw him go 4-4 from three, and 5-6 from the floor. As a team, the Bantams shot 13 of 24 (54.2%) from the three-point mark while also boasting an impressive 37 of 68 (54.4%) from the floor. Also important for the Bantams was bench points; a 65 to 28 lead in the category provided Trinity with effective reinforcements for much of the second period of play.
Spellman led the Bobcats with 20 points, five rebounds, and four assists but was the team's only double-digit contributor.
The Bobcats visit Colby for a non-conference game Tuesday at 7:30pm.
