Bantams Down Golden Bears 71-56 in Trinity Holiday Invitational Championship

Reilly scores career-high 20 points in loss

HARTFORD, Conn. (December 31, 2018) – The Trinity College men's basketball team pulled away in the second half to earn a 71-56 win over Western New England University on Monday afternoon in the championship game of the Trinity Holiday Invitational at Oosting Gymnasium.  

Top Performers
Junior forward Tim Reilly (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) produced a career-high 20 points for the Golden Bears, shooting 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and 7-of-13 overall.

Freshman guard Antonio Brancato (Fairfield, Conn.) turned in his third consecutive double figure scoring effort with 16 points to go with four assists and two rebounds.

Trinity sophomore forward Donald Jorden Jr. (Tampa, Fla.) led a balanced offensive showing for the Bantams with a team-high 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field while making both free throw attempts. Jorden Jr. also collected a game-high eight rebounds and added two assists and one block.

Junior guards Christian Porydzy (South Glastonbury, Conn.) and Nick Seretta (Greenfield, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points each, while junior forward Jadikas Brooks (Elmira, N.Y.) added eight points and five boards in ten minutes off the bench.

Game Review
Western New England opened the scoring on a Reilly layup 26 seconds into the contest, but the Golden Bears didn't lead again until a steal and layup by freshman forward Kenny Flynn (Dudley, Mass.) put the visitors up 21-19 midway through the half.

Trinity pulled back ahead (23-21) on a layup by Jorden Jr. with 9:08 on the clock, and the Bantams eventually went up as much as eight (31-23) before settling for a five-point cushion (41-36) at halftime.

The Bantams scored the first five points of the second period, establishing their first double-digit advantage (46-36) when Porydzy knocked down a three-pointer 1:27 into the frame.

Western New England trailed by the same margin (50-40) after a Flynn layup at the 16:10 mark, but Trinity took control with an 11-0 run to claim a 61-40 lead with 12:39 to play.

The Golden Bears were able to get as close as 12 (61-49) at the conclusion of a 9-0 run five and a half minutes later, but Trinity held on down the stretch.

Notes
• Western New England was limited to 20 points on 28.6 percent shooting in the second half.
• Flynn chipped in with eight points and two steals in ten minutes off the bench.
• The Bantams outrebounded the Golden Bears 37-22.

Up Next
Western New England (3-8, 0-3 CCC) resumes conference play on Thursday night at Endicott College, while Trinity (9-3, 0-0 NESCAC) begins league action on Friday night at Amherst.