Men's Basketball downed by Trinity, 77-43

(Northfield, Vt.) The Rivier University Men's Basketball team was defeated this evening by Trinity College in the 2014 Ed Hockenburry Classic by a 77-43 final. The loss sends the Raiders' overall record to 2-5 while the Bantams sit at 6-2 on the year. 

Rivier was led by freshman guard Andre Ruff (Lowell, Mass.) with a game-high 10 points and eight rebounds, while David Lorden (Pepperell, Mass.) added nine points and three rebounds on the night. Senior Jack Nelson (Nashua, N.H.) and junior Brendon Moran (Peabody, Mass.) chipped in with six points apiece.

Junior forward Sahy Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.) posted 16 points, five rebounds and three steals to lead Trinity College to a 77-43 victory over Rivier University on Saturday. Sophomore Chris Turnbull (Ridgewood, N.J.) added 15 points followed by junior Jacuqann Starks' (Hartford, Conn.) 13 points.

Trinity opened the first half with a 13-3 run, forcing Rivier to call an early timeout. However, that did not slow down the Bantams as they utilized a strong man-to-man coverage, forcing Rivier to turn the ball over 23 times and scoring 25 points off of the turnovers. Trinity's offensive power showed as the Bantams shot 31.4 percent from the field compared to Rivier's 18.2 percent in the first half as the score stood at 32-17 in favor of Trinity.

The second half showed no change as Trinity continued to put the ball into the basket, scoring 14-of-28 shots (50 percent) in the second half alone to run away for the 77-43 victory.

Rivier will take on Maine-Augusta in the consolation round at 1:00 p.m. while Trinity will look to defend its title tomorrow as the Bantams take on host Norwich in the championship round. Tip-off is slated for 3:00 p.m.