Men's Basketball Falls to Trinity, 77-52

HARTFORD, Conn. – The visiting Bridgewater State University Bears dropped a 77-52 decision to the Trinity College Bantams in men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon on the Ogrodnik Court in Oosting Gymnasium.

Trinity wraps up their semester with 4-5 record, heading into a three-week layoff before the start of the second half of the season.  Bridgewater is 3-4 after today's match.

Trinity jumped out to an early lead behind high-energy play from sophomore Mickel Simpson (Woburn, Mass.), first-year forward Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.), and senior co-captain guard Mick DiStasio (Cheverus, Maine).  Simpson scored all eight of his points in the first half, and collected nine rebounds, two steals, and an assist by game's end.  The Bantams led 33-22 at the midway point.

Trinity led comfortably for the majority of the game, until Bridgewater junior Brendan Monteiro (Brockton, Mass.) made a basket with 18:54 to play in the second half to cut the Trinity lead to just eight points. Sophomore Hart Gliedman (New York, N.Y.) answered with a clutch bucket for Trinity, sparking a 7-0 run for the Bantams, which included a key three-point play by sophomore Jamil Ebo (Bloomfield, Conn.), who chipped in eight rebounds and two blocks in the game.

Trinity kept Bridgewater at bay for the remainder of the game, fighting off a game-high 18-point performance from Bridgewater sophomore Kyle Gibson (Franklin, Mass.) and building their lead in the second half.

Sophomore Alexander Conaway (New Haven, Conn.) led Trinity scorers with 12 points, while Hart and first-year guard Jaquann Starks (Hartford, Conn.) finished with ten apiece for the Bantams.  DiStasio finished with nine points, seven assists, two steals and a block for Trinity.

Bridgewater senior co-captain Shawn Yard (Brockton, Mass.) and sophomore Michael Lofton (Mansfield, Mass.) netted ten points apiece for the Bears.