TRINITY MEN’S BASKETBALL ROUTS MAINE MARITIME IN INVITATIONAL OPENER
Eastern Connecticut Outlasts RPI in Other Semifinal Game

Hartford, Conn. – Senior tri-captain center Russ Martin (East Longmeadow, Mass.) was one of five Bantams to score in double figures, totaling a team-high 17 points on 6-for-7 field goal shooting with seven rebounds and four assists, to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 95-52 win against the visiting Maine Maritime Mariners in the opening round of the Trinity College Men’s Basketball Invitational Tournament this evening at Oosting Gymnasium.

The Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors downed the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Red Hawks, 79-74, in the other first round game of the tournament. Trinity improves to 9-3 and advances to the championship game against Eastern Connecticut tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 p.m., while the Mariners fall to 3-5 and will play RPI in the consolation game tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. Trinity won at Eastern Connecticut, which improved to 6-3 with its fifth win in a row, 65-54, in late November. Rensselaer drops to 3-6.

Trinity raced out to an 18-6 lead in after consecutive three-pointers by junior guard Paul Rowe (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and freshman guard Brian Ford (Bronx, N.Y.) with 12 minutes left in the first half and never looked back. Martin scored 13 first-half points and the Bantams made seven out of 12 of their shots from behind the arc while holding the Mariners to just nine field goals in 27 tries from the field. Senior forward Neil Stewart (Rangeley, Maine) scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the first stanza for Maine Maritime.

Ford finished with 15 points and Rowe had 14 points for Trinity, while senior tri-captain guard Tyler Simms (Bourne, Mass.) and freshman center Tim Dunn (Holyoke, Mass.) each added 10 points apiece. Simms also dished out four assists and junior forward Aaron Westbrooks (Dublin, Ireland) notched a game-high six assists for the Bantams. Senior forward Adam Haskell (Winslow, Maine) scored 12 points and Stewart pulled down a game-high eight rebounds for Maine Maritime.

In the nightcap, Eastern Connecticut outscored the Red Hawks, 13-7, to close the game after Rensselaer had taken a 67-66 lead with just under seven minutes remaining on a pair of free throws by freshman guard D.J. Blakemore (Bloomfield, Mich). Warrior junior guard Larry Kelley (New Haven, Conn.) hit back-to-back treys to give Eastern back the lead at 72-69 and added a third jumper from long range with three minutes remaining to give Eastern Connecticut a 77-71 advantage. RPI cut the lead to 77-74 at the three-minute mark on a three-pointer by senior guard Kris Kowalczyk (Troy, N.Y.), but the Red Hawks missed their next four shots before Warrior sophomore guard Edwin Ortiz (Hartford, Conn.) put the game away on a fast-break lay-up with 17 seconds on the clock.

Warrior junior tri-captain guard Kris Johnson (Sturbridge, Mass.) made six three-pointers in 10 attempts and finished with a game-high 20 points, while Kelley and freshman guard Courtney Simmons (Middletown, Conn.) scored 12 points apiece, and senior tri-captain forward Leon Martin (Woodbury, Conn.) contributed 10 points. Simmons also dished out a game-high seven assists, while Martin and senior tri-captain center Kevin Zalucki (Enfield, Conn.) paced the winners with 11 boards each. Senior forward Sam Simmons (Newburgh, N.Y.) scored a game-high 18 points for RPI and added seven rebounds, while Kowalczyk finished with 14 points, including four treys in six tries, and Blakemore had 12 points off the bench. Red Hawk sophomore center Ricky Philatre (Randolph, Mass.) pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.