Men’s Basketball (9-2) Enters NESCAC Season on a Roll

The Trinity College men’s basketball team defeated Springfield, 75-65, at home on Jan. 10 and won at Southern Vermont, 75-62, on Jan. 14.

Senior tri-captains Colin Tabb (Somers, Conn.) and Bryan Dion (East Haven, Conn.) combined for 48 points and 22 rebounds against Springfield, which was ranked among the top ten teams in the NCAA Division III Northeast region entering the game. Tabb made nine out of 14 field goal attempts and five out of eight three-point tries for a game-high 28 points and Dion made eight out of 12 field goal attempts and three out of five three-point tries for 20 points. Tabb added seven rebounds and six assists, Dion pulled down a game-high 15 boards, and junior forward Corey Days (Baltimore, Md.) blocked six shots for the Bantams. The win ended Springfield’s 10-game winning streak.

Against Southern Vermont, Tabb notched a season-high 32 points, sinking 12 out of 13 shots from the foul line, six rebounds and five assists. Junior forward Ryan Uszenski (Woodbridge, N.J.) set a new College-record with 11 steals to go with his 12 points and five assists, and Dion added 23 points and 13 boards for the Bantams.

Trinity, coached by Stan Ogrodnik, is currently tied with Amherst for the second-best overall record in the NESCAC at 9-2. Tabb leads the league in scoring with 24.0 ppg, is tied for second in free throw shooting with a 81.0 percentage (61-63), fourth in rebounding with 8.5 per game, sixth in three-point shooting with a 43.9 percentage (29-66), tied for seventh in assists with 3.6 per game, and ninth in field goal shooting with a 53.7 percentage (80-149). Dion is second in the NESCAC rankings in rebounding with 9.8 per game, fourth in blocked shots with 1.2 per game, eighth in field goal shooting with a 53.8 percentage (63-117), and ninth in scoring at 15.8 ppg, while Days is second in the NESCAC with 2.4 blocked shots per contest. As a team, Trinity is third in the league in field goal shooting at 48.0 percent (281-586).

Trinity is ranked among the top nine teams in the NCAA Division III Northeast region. The Bantams will begins their NESCAC slate of games this weekend at Middlebury on Fri., Jan. 18 and at Williams, which is ranked No. 19 in the d3hoops.com national poll and No. 3 in the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional Poll, on Sat., Jan. 19.

This week’s NCAA Division III Northeast poll:

1. Keene State 10-1

2. Amherst 9-2

3. Williams 11-1

4. Babson 11-2

5. Colby-Sawyer 9-3

6. Clark 9-3

Also: Trinity, Conn. (9-2), Salem State (9-4), Wesleyan (9-3)

The Trinity College women’s basketball lost at Worcester Tech, 66-53, on Jan. 10 and at Wellesley, 71-51, on Jan. 12.

Against Worcester Tech, junior center Kate McCloskey (Uxbridge, Mass.) led all scorers with 25 points, making 11 out of 15 shots from the field, and added 11 boards, while senior forward Kate Toman (Santa Margarita, Calif.) added 12 points for the Bantams.

Senior co-captain guard Bridget Dullea (Longmeadow, Mass.) had a game-high 16 points against Wellesley, while freshman forward Rebecca Bell (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added 10 points off the bench.

Trinity, coached by Maureen Pine, currently owns the eighth-best overall record in the NESCAC at 5-4. McCloskey leads the league in scoring at 19.9 ppg, rebounding at 11.4 per game, and field goal shooting at 60.0 percent (69-115). Dullea is third in the league in assists with 5.2 per game, freshman forward Michelle McCaffrey (West Springfield, Mass.) is fourth in the NESCAC in rebounding at 8.6 per game and fifth in field goal shooting with a 48.3 percentage (29-60), senior forward McKenzie Corby (Bethel, Conn.) is tied for fifth in steals with 2.4 per game, and senior guard Alison Hadden (Drexel Hill, Pa.) is sixth in assists with 3.9 per contest.

Trinity will begin its NESCAC schedule this weekend, hosting Middlebury, ranked No. 28 in the d3hoops.com national poll, No. 34 in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III national poll and No. 8 in the New England Women’s Basketball Association (NEWBA) Division III regional poll, on Fri., Jan. 18 and Williams on Sat., Jan. 19.

The Trinity College women’s ice hockey team lost, 6-0, at NESCAC rival Bowdoin on Jan. 11 and, 4-0, to league foe Colby on Jan. 12.

Trinity sophomore goalie Mimi MacKinnon (Glen Cove, N.Y.) made 33 saves against Bowdoin and stopped 39 shots at Colby. Trinity has been held scoreless in its last three games. Bowdoin and Colby were both ranked among the top ten teams in the United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) Division III national poll entering the weekend.

Trinity, coached by Katie Busniuk, is currently in seventh place in the NESCAC with a 2-8 league record. The Bantams will be the home team against NESCAC rival Wesleyan on Fri., Jan. 18, although the game will be played at Wesleyan’s Freeman Athletic Center.

The Trinity College men’s squash team shut out Denison, 9-0, on Jan. 11.

Junior Jonathan Smith (Leeds, England) and senior Rohan Bhappu (Singapore) each won his match, 3-0, without allowing a single point scored against them in the three games against Denison, which was ranked No. 9 in the nation entering the match. All nine Bantam players were victorious by 9-0 scores.

Trinity has seven players ranked among the top 20 in the nation, including senior co-captain Lefika Ragontse at No. 7. Sophomore Michael Ferreira (Stamford, England) is No. 3, Smith is No. 4, junior Nickolas Kyme (Pembroke, Bermuda) is No. 8, Bhappu is No. 17 and sophomore Nadeem Osman (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) is No. 20. Bantam freshman Bernardo Samper (Bogota, Colombia) is the nation’s top-ranked player just beginning his intercollegiate career in the Denison match.

Trinity, coached by Paul Assaiante, is ranked No. 1 in the National Intercollegiate Squash Racquets Association (NISRA) national poll. The Bantams will visit No. 3-ranked Yale on Jan. 16 and host No. 7-ranked Cornell on Jan. 19 and No. 6-ranked Dartmouth on Jan. 20.

This week’s NISRA national poll:

1. Trinity (Conn.)

2. Harvard

3. Yale

4. Princeton

5. Williams

6. Dartmouth

7. Cornell

8. Western Ontario

9. Denison

10. Pennsylvania

Women’s Squash (2-0) Blanks Penn

The Trinity College women’s squash team shut out Pennsylvania, 9-0, on Jan. 12

Sophomore Amina Helal (Stamford, England) shut out her opponent, 3-0, as did all eight other Bantam players against Penn, which was ranked No. 7 in the nation entering the match. Helal, the No. 1-ranked player in the nation, is 2-0 this season, while No. 5-ranked player Lynn Leong (Bota Kharu, Malaysia), No. 7-ranked Pam Saunders (Harrare, Zimbabwe), No. 21-ranked Bronwyn Cooper (Harrare, Zimbabwe), No. 22-ranked Mollie Anderson (Buffalo, N.Y.), and No. 23-ranked Clare Austin (Banbury, England) have all gotten off to 2-0 starts as well. for the Bantams.

Trinity, coached by Wendy Bartlett, is ranked No. 2 in the Women’s Intercollegiate Squash Association (WISA) national poll. The Bantams will visit No. 4-ranked Yale on Wed. Jan. 16 and host No. 8-ranked Dartmouth on Sat., Jan. 19.

This week’s WISA national poll:

1. Harvard

2. Trinity (Conn.)

3. Princeton

4. Yale

5. Cornell

6. Brown

7. Pennsylvania

8. Dartmouth

9. Williams

10. Amherst

Wrestling (5-4) Sweeps Tech Schools

The Trinity College wrestling team downed New England College Conference Wrestling Association (NECCWA) rivals MIT and Worcester Tech, 30-27, and 23-16, respectively, in a tri-match at MIT on Jan. 12.

Junior 149-pounder Eric Egolf (Glastonbury, Conn.) and sophomore 165-pounder Wesley Connell (Simsbury, Conn.) each pinned one opponent and defeated another in the tri-match at MIT. Connell leads Trinity with a 9-1 record this season, while freshman 157-pounder David Bucco (Paramus, N.J.) is 10-4 and sophomore 184-pounder Michael Doros (East Hartford, Conn.) is 7-3. Freshman Matt Webster (Foxboro, Mass.) is 9-6 with a team-high four pins

Trinity will visit Division I state rival Sacred Heart on Tue. Jan. 15, before competing in the NECCWA Duals Championships at Wesleyan on Jan. 19. The Bantams, due to their No. 8 ranking in latest the NECCWA poll, are seeded No. 8 in the 15-team field, while Johnson and Wales, ranked No. 30 in the nation and No. 1 in New England, will be the top seed in the tourney. The Bantams will face No. 9-seeded Springfield in the first round.

This week’s NECCWA Top Ten:

1. Johnson and Wales 218

2. Coast Guard 212

3. Wesleyan 186

T4. Plymouth State 176

T4. Roger Williams 176

6. Norwich 137

7. Bridgewater State 124

8. Trinity (Conn.) 113

9. Springfield 112

10. Williams 102

The Trinity College men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams competed in the Yale Collegiate Classic on Jan. 12. Junior men’s tri-captain Ryan Bak (Suffield, Conn.) finished first overall in the mile run with a time of 4:17.96, which was over four seconds faster than the second place runner. Also, junior Josh Griffis (Templeton, Mass.) placed sixth in the weight throw at 46’00.50” and junior tri-captain Jim Emord (Bridgewater, Mass.) came in seventh in the 3,000-meter run for the Bantams at 9:05.64.

For the women’s squad, junior Kate Klein (Huntington, Vt.), sophomore Kristina DePeau (Stafford, Conn.), and freshman Patty Allen (Setauket, N.Y.) finished in sixth place in the 800-meter run (2:29.30), 3,000-meter run (10:39.14), and weight throw (36’02.75”), respectively.