Hartford, Conn. – Senior tri-captain forward Steven Zieja (Hadley, Mass.) notched team-highs of 19 points and eight rebounds to lead the visiting Amherst College Lord Jeffs to a 78-73 win over the Trinity College Bantams in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men’s basketball action this afternoon at Ray Oosting Gymnasium. Trinity drops to 13-7 overall and 4-3 in the NESCAC with its first loss in its last three games, while the Lord Jeffs, ranked No. 3 in the Northeast and No. 12 in the nation, improves to 17-3 overall and 6-1 in the league.
Amherst took early leads of 16-8 and 19-10 in the first half, and led, 40-31, with 1:32 remaining in the half before Trinity freshman forward Tyler Rhoten (Ridgewood, N.J.) and senior tri-captain forward Ryan Uszenski (Woodbridge, N.J.) hit consecutive jumpers to cut the lead to five before the break. Rhoten had 12 points and Uszenski scored 11 to keep the Bantams in the game in the first stanza.
Trinity fought its way back early in the second half, taking the lead on back-t-back lay-ups by junior guard Shaun Smyth (Manchester, Conn.), 46-45, with 17:05 left in the game. The Jeffs answered quickly with three-pointers by junior John Donovan (Holmdel, N.J.) and sophomore center Andrew Schiel (Wayne, Pa.) to jump back ahead by five and never trailed the rest of the way. Trinity trailed, 71-69, with just under two minutes on the clock, but Zieja and Donovan scored all of their team’s eight points down the stretch to preserve the win.
Rhoten and Uszenski finished with 20 points each, while sophomore guard Jesse Farrell (Minneapolis, Minn.) added 11 points and seven assists for the Bantams. Uszenski also had a team-high six rebounds and four steals. Donovan had 16 points and Schiel came off the bench for 15 points for the Jeffs.
| Teams | 1st | 2nd | OT | Final |
| Amherst (17-3) | 40 | 38 | -- | 78 |
| Trinity, Conn. (13-7) | 35 | 38 | -- | 73 |
SCORING
A- Steven Zieja 7-19 5-7 19, John Donovan 3-9 (3) 7-11 16, Andrew Schiel 5-9 (3)
2-2 15, Adam Harper 3-11 (1) 2-2 9, Patrick Fitzsimmons 3-3 0-0 6, Ryan Faulkner
2-2 (1) 0-0 5, Ray Corrigan 2-3 0-2 4, John Bedford 1-3 (1) 1-2 4, Tim Jones 0-1
0-0 0.
Totals: 26-60 (9) 17-26 78.
TC- Ryan
Uszenski 8-17 (2) 2-2 20, Tyler Rhoten 10-21 0-0 20, Jesse Farrell 4-6 3-3 11,
Corey Days 2-3 4-4 8, Shaun Smyth 3-5 1-1 7, John Halas 1-5 2-2 4, Darren Baker
1-1 1-3 3, Aaron Goldstein 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals: 29-58 (2) 13-15 73.