Northfield, VT --- Trinity junior George Papadeas (Athens, Greece) went eight-for-nine from the floor and finished with 15 points and five boards to help lead the Bantams to a 70-57 victory over Worcester State in the opening round of the Ed Hockenbury Classic this evening at Norwich.

Trinity (5-3) moves on to the championship round to take on Norwich tomorrow at 3 PM while the Lancers (0-7) take on UMaine Augusta at 1 o'clock in the consolation game.

Sophomore Jaquann Starks (Hartford, CT) chipped in with 13 points for the Bantams while classmate Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, NY) added 11 points, five caroms and five steals. Junior Alex Conaway (New Haven, CT) also had eight points and a team-best eight rebounds.

The Blue and Gold were propelled by senior Dane Jobst (Athol, MA) and junior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA) who both registered 15 points apiece in the setback. Jobst pulled down a squad-high nine boards as Rios was 6-for-10 from the field with a pair of three-pointers.

Trinity opened the contest with a 15-2 lead five minutes into the game. Worcester State responded with a 10-4 run to trail 19-12 near the halfway point of the stanza, but the Bantams stayed hot from the field and closed out the period with a 28-15 surge and the 47-28 advantage at the break.

Trinity made nearly half their shots in the frame (18-for-39 – 46 percent) as the Bantams were paced by Papadeas, Ajayi and Starks who combined for 27 of their 47 points.

Down 57-34 with 11:58 remaining in regulation, the Lancers made it an 11 point game with a three-minute 14-2 skein as Jobst helped connect on consecutive three-pointers in the run.

Following a trifecta by Rios and the score 61-51 at the 6:01 mark, the Bantams pulled away by going on a 5-2 run over the next four minutes with two points at the free throw line by Starks and a trey by sophomore Rick Naylor (Sudbury, VT).

The Lancers never threatened again as Trinity rolled ahead to the championship game with the final score.

WSU held the Bantams connect on just 30 percent of their attempts in the second half (8-for-27) as they actually outscored their opponents 29-24 in the final stanza.

The Bantams won the battle of turnovers and netted over one-third of their sum by parlaying 24 Lancer miscues into a 26-6 edge in points off of miscues with 14 swipes. Trinity also only gave away the ball 10 times and finished shooting a modest 40 percent for the contest (22-for-66).

Trinity also held the 39-37 edge in rebounds and the 30-28 margin with points in the paint. WSU's bench outscored their counterparts, 20-17.

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