HARTFORD, Conn. -- Ben Callahan-Gold scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 67-50 win over the visiting Bates men's basketball team in the opening round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Basketball Championship Tournament Friday evening on Ogrodnik Court at Oosting Gymnasium. 

Trinity jumped out to an 11-0 lead early with all 11 points scored by Callahan-Gold and Gilbert Otoo.  Bates scored its first points with 15:32 on the clock on a 3-pointer by sophomore Simon McCormick (Whitefield, Maine) and the teams traded buckets back and forth until Trinity's Tyler Mola scored six points in a row followed by a Callahan-Gold layup to push the Bantams ahead, 25-9, at the 9:20 mark. Bates closed to 28-18 on a layup by sophomore Trace Gotham (Medfield, Mass.) with 3:08 remaining in the half, but Callahan-Gold and junior C.J. Redd scored all nine points in a 9-2 Trinity run heading into the break.

Redd and Otoo scored the first two buckets of the second frame to give Trinity its biggest lead at 41-20, but the Bobcats fought back and scored 12 points in a row to make it, 41-32, just under five minutes after halftime. The Trinity lead hovered at around 10 points until two free throws by first-year Jahmir Primer (Hempstead, N.Y.) pulled the Bobcats to within seven points at 50-43 with 9:04 left. The Trinity defense locked down and allowed just three field goals the rest of the way, while Callahan-Gold scored seven of Trinity's final 17 points down the stretch.

With the Bantams playing without leading scorer and rebounder Donald Jorden Jr., Callahan-Gold came through in a big way, sinking 11 of 20 shots from the field and six of 13 from long range for his 28 points and adding a game-high 15 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Trinity's defense was stifling, as it held Bates to 20 percent shooting from beyond the arc and forced 20 turnovers, and the Bantams also had a sizable advantage on the glass, 47-35. Otoo finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Redd had 10 points and five assists.  Primer paced Bates with 15 points and senior Raheem Spence (Nantucket, Mass.) added nine points, 11 boards, and two blocked shots for the visitors.

No. 7-seeded Trinity improves to 15-8 with its fifth consecutive victory and advances to a quarterfinal game at No. 2-seeded Tufts on Sunday at 2 p.m. Bates sees its season end at 9-12.