DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Powered by double-figure efforts from three different players, Trinity College (CT) posted an 84-52 victory over UMass Dartmouth in game two of the opening day of the 2023 Lafrance Hospitality Tournament at the Tripp Athletic Center.
The Bantams move to 3-0 on the season, while the Corsairs are now 0-3. Game one action to open the tournament saw the University of Saint Joseph post a 79-70 victory over Colby College. Saturday's games will feature Saint Joseph against Trinity at 12pm, followed by the Corsairs against Colby at 2pm.
The visiting Bantams struck quickly in the opening half of action, opening the game on a 6-0 run, including four points from senior forward Ben Callahan-Gold. The Corsairs made it a three-point game at 16:22 as grad student forward
Jackson Zancan put in a layup, but a three-pointer, followed by a bucket from Bantams forward Dana Smith saw the advantage move to 11-3 for Trinity.
A pair of free throws from Corsairs senior forward Mike Eurquhart Jr. later closed the gap to six (13-7), but a 9-0 run saw the visitors once again open up a wide margin, as free throw makes from junior guard Will Dorion at 7:26 pushed the score to 24-9 in favor of the Bantams.
UMass Dartmouth got back-to-back free throws from sophomore center
Ryan Flauto to close the gap to 13 points (24-11), but consecutive layups and a trey from Smith once again open the lead further in Trinity's favor (31-11) with 3:09 to play in the opening half.
The Corsairs saw senior guard
Isaac Percy nail a three-pointer with 1:04 left on the clock, but the Bantams dropped in a final layup to take a 39-18 lead into halftime.
Second half action saw the Bantams carry the momentum right in as the visitors opened with a 9-0 run for a 48-18 lead at 17:17 as sophomore guard Jarrel Okorougo sank a layup to cap the run. The Corsairs responded with a pair of free throw makes by sophomore guard
Josh Lopes, but another 8-0 run, including three straight layups from Okorougo, saw Trinity take the 64-24 lead with 11:56 to play.
Lopes stopped the run seconds later, draining a three-point shot of his own and a trey from sophomore guard
Nic Boyd helped make it a 64-30 margin at the 10:43 mark. The three-point assault continued for the Corsairs as this time, Percy nailed one from beyond the arc to make it a 65-33 margin with under nine to play.
The Bantams got a three-pointer from junior forward Sean Macarchuk, but it was quickly answered by Corsairs' sophomore guard
John Marcille. Consecutive makes at the charity stripe by Lopes, who added a layup, cut the deficit to 74-40 with 4:42 remaining and a Boyd trey and two free throws closed the gap further seconds later (74-45).
Trinity's offense continued to excel, but the Corsairs responded as a pull up shot from
Chike Ezeonu, coupled with a
Darius Peterson three-pointer, pulled the home team closer (80-52). The Bantams took advantage at the line late in the contest to close out the victory.
Sophomore guard Henry Vetter paced the Bantams, recording 13 points with seven rebounds, adding four assists and two steals. Smith added 11 points and six boards, while Okorougo dropped in 10 points with a block and two steals.
The Corsairs were paced by Lopes, who posted a game-high 17 points with five rebounds and four steals. Boyd dropped in eight points with three steals, while Eurquhart added eight boards and a steal.
