Saturday, February 24, 2001

SECOND HALF COLD SPELL SINKS TRINITY
MEN’S BASKETBALL IN NESCAC FINALS

Hartford, Conn.- Sophomore center Patrick Fitzsimmons (Durham, N.C.) had 22 points and a game-high 14 rebounds to lead the visiting Amherst College Lord Jeffs to an 86-75 win over the Trinity College Bantams in the semifinal round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament this evening at Oosting Gymnasium.

Trinity, seeded No. 1 in the tourney, falls to 18-6 for the season and awaits its post-season fate to be determined by the NCAA Division III Championship selection committee on Sunday night. Amherst, which improves to 21-5, earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.

Trinity led, 12-7, early in the game after scoring six straight points in 22 seconds with 14:51 to go in the first half. Amherst took the lead with 11:32 to go in the half, on a fast break lay-up by senior guard Brian Daoust (Dover, Mass.), but Trinity quickly went back ahead 21-19 on a turnaround jumper by senior center Julian Bah (Concord, Mass.).

The Bantams went ahead, 35-29, on the two three-point shot by sophomore reserve forward Ryan Uszenski (Woodbridge, N.J.). Daoust hit his fifth three-pointer of the first half with :52 remaining to give the Lord Jeffs a 40-39 advantage, but Trinity senior guard Mike LaBella (Middletown, Conn.) answered with a three-point shot from the top of the key and the Bantams went into the intermission with a 42-40 lead. Daoust totaled 19 points to keep Amherst in the game in the first half.

The teams an even second half until Amherst junior forward Steven Zieja (Hadley, Mass.) scored two lay-ups to give the Lord Jeffs a 64-59 lead with 8:37 remaining in the game.

After Bantam senior guard Mike Keohane (Belmont, Mass.) made a pair of free throws, Amherst scored seven unanswered points to take an 81-71 lead with 6:52 left to play. Trinity cut the lead to six with :58 remaining on a lay-up by junior forward Bryan Dion (East Haven, Conn.) but failed to score the rest of the way.

Trinity shot 35.5 percent from the field and missed all 10 of their three-point tries in the second half. Junior forward Colin Tabb (Somers, Conn.) paced the Bantams in scoring with 21 points, sinking 13 out of 17 shots from the foul line but just four out of 17 from the field. Uszenksi totaled 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while LaBella and Bah added 10 points apiece.

Daoust finished with a game-high 24 points for Amherst, including six three-pointers, and Zieja scored 20 points. Freshman guard Ryan Faulkner (Lebanon, N.H.) dished out 11 assists for the Lord Jeffs.

SCORING

Amherst (21-5)              40 46 -- 86
Trinity, Conn. (18-6)     42 33 -- 75

A- Brian Daoust 8-17 (6) 2-4 24, Patrick Fitzsimmons 7-10 8-10 22, Steve Zieja 6-13 8-10 20, Ryan Faulkner 2-4 2-4 6, Patrick Taverna 2-5 2-2 6, Adam Harper 2-3 0-0 4, Abram Sexson 1-4 0-0 2, Erik Kelly 0-5 2-4 2, John Donovan 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals: 28-61 (6) 24-34 86.

TC- Colin Tabb 4-19 13-17 21, Ryan Uszenski 6-9 (2) 0-2 14, Mike LaBella 4-9 (1) 1-2 10, Julian Bah 5-7 0-0 10, Bryan Dion 4-7 1-2 9, Mike Keohane 2-6 4-5 8, Matt Jones 1-1 (1) 0-1 3, Scott Wallach 0-1 0-0 0, Rick Hein 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals: 26-60 (4) 19-29 75.