Men's Basketball Stumbles at Trinity

Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)

HARTFORD, Conn. – The Elms College men's basketball team fell to host Trinity College, 92-63, in a non-conference contest at Oosting Gymnasium Thursday night. The Blazers drop to 3-7 on the season, while the Bantams improved to 8-4 overall.

Back-to-back buckets from Elms senior Jerry Buchanon (Windsor, Conn.) put the Blazers up 6-4 in the opening minutes of play, but three straight three-pointers from Trinity handed the Bantams a 13-9 lead at the 15:39 mark. Trinity padded their advantage with a 17-5 run over the next five minutes, taking a 30-14 lead. Buchanon netted seven straight points for Elms, followed by four points from sophomore Andre Wright (Danbury, Conn.) as the Blazers trimmed their deficit to 34-27 with 4:22 remaining in the first half. The Bantams executed a late 15-6 run in the final minutes, taking a 49-33 lead into the break.

Four consecutive points from Trinity junior Ed Ogundeko (Brooklyn, N.Y.) opened the second half as the Bantams pushed their advantage to 53-33. The Blazers chipped away with a 6-0 run, but the Bantams answer with eight unanswered points to make it a 63-39 game. The squads traded baskets down the stretch and a layup from Elms junior Dimitri Tessier (Brockton, Mass.) set the score at 79-57 with 7:27 on the clock. The Bantams outscored the Blazers, 13-6, over the final minutes of play, en route to the 92-63 win.

Buchanon led all scorers with a game-high 26 points, shooting 8-of-15 from the floor and 9-of-12 from the free throw line. Buchanon added a team-high six rebounds and a team-high five assists. Wright tallied 11 points, connecting on three three-pointers, while Tessier netted a career-high nine points off the bench.

Trinity had three scorers in the double figures, paced by 19-point efforts from Ogundeko and senior Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Ogundeko notched a double-double with a game-high 15 rebounds, while Ajayi had six rebounds and two assists. Sophomore Eric Gendron (Merrimack, N.H.) recorded 16 points off the bench, shooting 4-of-4 from three-point.

The Bantams edged the Blazers on the glass (47-22) and in bench points (36-26). Elms shot 37% (20-of-54) from the floor, including 36.8% (7-of-19) from three-point range, and 64% (16-of-25) from the free throw stripe. Trinity converted 53% (35-of-66) from the field, 40% (10-of-25) from three-point, and 85.7% (12-of-14) the foul line.

The Blazers will look to move into the win column with a conference road trip to Wheelock College Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. The Bantams host Williams College in conference action Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

ELMS BASKETBALL