The Bantams, who posted a 17-4 overall record and an 8-1 mark in the NESCAC earned the No. 1 seed in the Championship Tournament after an 82-57 win over Bowdoin last Saturday. With the top seed, Trinity received a bye to the semifinal round.

The winner of the NESCAC Championship Tournament will receive the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. The top seven teams in the league earned a bid to the NESCAC Championship tourney, and the first round games took place on Tuesday, Feb. 19. No. 2 Williams defeated No. 7 Tufts, 81-57, and No. 4 Amherst beat No. 5 Bowdoin, 71-61. They will square off in the first semifinal game on Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. No. 6 Wesleyan posted a modest upset at No. 3 Connecticut College, and will be Trinity’s opponent at 4 p.m. on Feb. 23.

Trinity, coached by Stan Ogrodnik, won seven out of its last eight games during the regular season, and each of its final seven games in the conference. The Bantams' only loss was at Williams, 85-75, in its second NESCAC contest. The Bantams are ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Division III Northeast region poll, while Williams is ranked No. 1 and Amherst is at No. 6. Williams is also ranked No. 12 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division III National Poll and No. 25 in the d3hoops.com National Poll, while Trinity is No. 29 in the d3hoops.com national poll.

Senior tri-captain swingman Colin Tabb (Somers, Conn.) leads the NESCAC in scoring (24.98 ppg) and appears among the league leaders in several categories. He is fourth in the league in assists with 4.3 per game, tied for fifth in steals with 2.0 per game, and sixth in rebounding at 7.7 per game. He is also the top free throw shooter in the NESCAC and among the best in the nation with an 86.8 percentage (145-167) from the charity stripe. Tabb made 12 out of 22 shots from the field and totaled 32 points in the regular season finale at Bowdoin.

Senior tri-captain forward Bryan Dion (East Haven, Conn.) is one of the top front court players in the league. He is 10th in the NESCAC with 16 ppg, second in rebounding with 9.2 per game, and fifth in field goal percentage at 51.7 (134-259) . The team’s third tri-captain, senior point guard Matt Jones (Meriden, Conn.) is fifth in the league in assists with 4.2 per game, while starting junior forward Ryan Uszenski (Woodbridge, N.J.) sits atop the NESCAC leaders in steals with 2.4 swipes per contest.

Williams enters the tournament with the best overall record among the four teams at 21-4, and finished 7-2 in the league. Amherst is 19-6 overall and 5-4 in the league, while. Wesleyan finished 4-5 in the league and improved to 15-9 overall with their victory on Tuesday.