Friday, December 6, 2002

TRINITY COMEBACK FALLS SHORT AGAINST
WESLEYAN IN BASKETBALL TOURNEY

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.- Junior forward Kanem Johnson (New Haven, Conn.) had a game-high 28 points to lead the Wesleyan University Cardinals to a 76-73 win over the Trinity College Bantams in the first round of the Skidmore College Men’s Basketball Invitational Tournament this evening.  Trinity falls to 2-3 and will play in the consolation game tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. against either Skidmore or Hampshire. 
            The game started slow as neither team scored a point until 17:34 into the game when Johnson hit one out of two free throws.  Trinity netted its first points on a lay-up by freshman forward Tyler Rhoten (Ridgewood, N.J.) 3:29 into the game.  The Cardinals built a 20-8 lead by the 9:08 mark, forcing a Trinity timeout, and led by as many as 18 points, 35-17, with 3:40 remaining in the first half.

            After Trinity had pulled to 42-39 at the half, Wesleyan extended its advantage back up to 17 points at 62-45 with 10 minutes left to play in the game.  Trinity made its move, going on a 22-10 run capped off by consecutive three-point shots by junior guard Shaun Smyth (Manchester, Conn.) and sophomore guard John Halas (White Plains, N.Y.), to make the score, 72-67 with less than two minutes on the clock.

            The Bantams closed to within one possession on two free throws by Rhoten, and after two missed foul shots by Johnson on the Cardinal end, Trinity set up for a last chance to tie with eight seconds remaining.  Sophomore guard Jesse Farrell (Minneapolis, Minn.) took the inbounds pass, but none of Trinity’s three-point shooters could get open forcing a long three-point attempt by Farrell that bounced off the front of the rim.

            Rhoten paced Trinity in scoring, making 11 out of 17 shots from the field for 24 points, along with six boards.  Halas added 16 points, including four threes, while Smyth had a career-high 10 points off the bench.  Bantam senior tri-captain forward Corey Days (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds and freshman forward Kevin Reed (Downsville, N.Y.) notched nine points and eight boards.  Senior tri-captain Kahree Brown (Bronx, N.Y.) had 12 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists, and sophomore guard Tim Holland (East Williston, N.Y.) added 11 points and four assists off the bench for the Cardinals.

SCORING
TC- Tyler Rhoten 11-17 2-2 24, John Halas 5-14 (4) 2-2 16, Shaun Smyth 2-5 (1) 5-8 10, Kevin Reed 3-6 3-4 9, Jesse Farrell 2-6 2-2 6, Ben Max 2-2 (1) 0-0 5, Corey Days 1-4 1-6 3, Ryan Uszenski 0-6 0-0 0, Aaron Goldstein 0-0 0-0 0, Darren Baker 0-7 0-0 0.
Totals: 26-68 (6) 15-24 73.

W- Kanem Johnson 12-17 4-8 28, Kahree Brown 2-7 (1) 7-12 12, Tim Holland 4-11 (3) 0-1 11, Chris Bray 4-9 (1) 0-0 9, Chad Gordon 3-5 2-6 8, Keala Mills 2-5 (1) 0-0 5, David Myrie 1-3 1-2 3, Robert Kelly 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals: 28-57 (6) 14-29 76.