INTO NESCAC SEMIS WITH WIN AGAINST TUFTS
Junior tri-captain guard John Halas (White Plains, N.Y.) totaled 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and five steals to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 72-57 win over the visiting Tufts University Jumbos in the quarterfinal round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men’s Basketball Tournament this afternoon at Ray Oosting Gymnasium.
Trinity, ranked No. 10 in the nation, improves to 21-3 and will play Amherst, which downed Wesleyan, 97-65, in its quarterfinal contest, in the NESCAC Semifinals on Sat., Feb. 28 at Williams. Williams, the top seed in the tournament, defeated Middlebury, 74-52, and will host the semifinal and final rounds. Bowdoin hosts Bates later today, and the winner will face Williams in the other semifinal match-up next Saturday. The Bantams edged Amherst, 68-66, on the road during the regular season. Tufts closes its campaign at 8-17.
Trinity went ahead early, 8-2, in the opening two minutes, but the Jumbos quickly tied the score at 11-11 over the next two minutes with seven straight points. Points were hard to come by over the next eight minutes, as both teams used an intense pressure defense to force several difficult shots on both ends of the floor. The Bantams pulled ahead late in the first half, going on a 14-4 run and taking a 30-19 lead on a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Tyler Rhoten (Ridgewood, N.J.) at the 3:18 mark, and led, 36-23, at the break. Rhoten paced Trinity in the first half with all of his 12 points and Halas added 10. Both teams shot less than 40 percent from the field in the first half.
In the second stanza, the Trinity advantage hovered between 17 and 11 points for the first nine minutes, before the Jumbos pulled within eight points at 47-39 with 10:28 on the clock on a jumper by senior co-captain guard Deyvehn East (Greenfield, Mass.) and a foul shot by freshman forward Brian Kumf (Milford, Mass.). Bantam freshmen Robert Taylor (Dorchester Center, Mass.) and Patrick Hasiuk (Enfield, Conn.) scored the game’s next six points to build the lead back to 14 points, and Trinity scored 15 of the next 22 points to lead, 68-46, with 3:13 left to play.
Halas made three three-point shots in seven attempts to lead four Bantams in double figures in scoring, while Taylor finished with 14 points off the bench. Trinity junior center Craig Coupe (Niskayuna, N.Y.) had 13 points and seven boards, and Rhoten added seven boards and six steals to his 12 points. East paced Tufts with 13 points and added six rebounds, while senior co-captain guard Eric Mack (Fall River, Mass.) closed his collegiate career with six assists.
Tufts (8-17) 23-34--57
Trinity, Conn. (21-3) 36-36--72