Friday, February 23, 2001

TABB AND BAH LEAD TRINITY
MEN’S BASKETBALL TO NESCAC FINALS

Hartford, Conn.- Junior forward Colin Tabb (Somers, Conn.) had 26 points and junior center Julian Bah (Concord, Mass.) notched 13 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 76-72 win over the visiting Connecticut College Camels 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, improves to 18-5 for the season and advances to the finals tomorrow at 7 p.m. against No. 4-seed Amherst at Trinity. Connecticut College falls to 18-7 and is eliminated from the tournament. The winner of the NESCAC Championship earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. Amherst defeated No. 5-seed Colby, 61-46, in the other semifinal game played earlier this evening in Hartford.

After Trinity took an early lead, 12-7, on a free throw by sophomore forward Ryan Uszenski (Woodbridge, N.J.) the Camels went on a 12-0 run to take a 19-12 lead with 7:17 remaining in the first half. Camel sophomore guard Leland McKenna (Litchfield, Conn.) scored six of Connecticut’s points in the run.

The teams played evenly for the remainder of the first half and the Camels led, 38-30, at halftime. Senior forward Kareem Tatum (Worcester, Mass.) had 11 points and five rebounds in the half, while Bah paced Trinity with 11 points and seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes. The Camels made five out of nine three-point shots in the half.

Connecticut College maintained a lead of at least six points for the first 6:25 of the second half, thanks to four field goals by senior center Tope Adekanbi (Hackensack, N.J.). Trinity cut the lead to a single point at 55-54 with 11:58 remaining on a 15-foot jumper by senior guard Michael LaBella (Middletown, Conn.), a reverse lay-up by Bah, and a free throw by Uszenski.

After Adekanbi hit a free throw to give the Camels a 62-60 lead with 8:57 to play, the Bantams scored seven points in a row, including five by LaBella, to take a 67-62 lead with 6:39 left in the game.

The Camels rallied to cut the lead to one with 2:55 remaining on a two free throws by Adekanbi, but Tabb made a basket and a foul shot to put the Bantams back up by four at 74-70. Camel junior forward Rich Futia (Greenwich, Conn.) scored in the paint to pull the visitors back to within three points, but classmate Isaiah Curtis (New London, Conn.) missed a wild three-point attempt in the final seconds that would have tied the score.

Trinity shot 61.5 percent from the field and made six out of seven shots from three-point range in the second half, giving them a 51.9 field goal percentage and a 50 percent three-point field goal percentage for the game. The Camels shot a respectable 45.9 percent from the field but just 52.9 percent from the foul line, including four out of 10 from the line in the second half.

Tabb made eight out of 14 shots from the field, including four three-pointers, and added seven boards, while LaBella totaled 16 points and five assists for the Bantams. Fellow senior guard Mike Keohane (Belmont, Mass.), playing on a sore ankle, added 13 points missing just one shot in seven attempts.

Tatum finished with a team-high 20 points, sinking five out of six three-point attempts, and grabbed six rebounds for the Camels. Adekanbi totaled 15 points and seven rebounds, Futia had 11 points in a losing effort.

SCORING

Connecticut College (18-7)          38 34 -- 72
Trinity, Conn. (18-5)                       30 46 -- 76

CC- Kareem Tatum 7-12 (5) 1-3 20, Tope Adekanbi 6-10 3-4 15, Rich Futia 5-8 1-6 11, Leland McKenna 2-5 4-4 8, Mizan Ayers 3-11 (1) 0-0 7, Isaiah Curtis 2-8 (1) 4-4 5, Ali Rahman 2-4 0-0 4, Jason Shea 1-2 0-0 2, Dave Brown 0-1 0-0 0,
Totals: 28-61 (7) 9-17 72.

TC- Colin Tabb 8-14 (4) 6-9 26, Michael LaBella 6-9 (2) 2-2 16, Mike Keohane 6-7 (1) 0-0 13, Julian Bah 5-14 3-6 13, Bryan Dion 2-4 0-0 4, Ryan Uszenski 1-4 2-4 4, Matt Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Scott Wallach 0-1 0-2 0.
Totals: 28-54 (7) 13-23 76.