Northfield, Vt. - Junior Colin Donovan (Westborough, Mass.) scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Trinity College Bantams to an 88-67 win over the Dean College Bulldogs in the opening round of the Ed Hockenbury Men's Basketball Classic at Norwich University this evening.  Trinity improves to 5-4 and will face the host Norwich Cadets in the finals tomorrow.  The Bulldogs, now 2-8 after eight straight losses, will play for third place against the University of Maine-Augusta tomorrow. The Cadets downed Maine-Augusta, 88-64, in the other first-round game today.  Donovan sank six of 13 three-point attempts, while junior forward Donald Jorden (Tampa, Fla.) matched the entire Dean squad with 27 rebounds, three shy of a school record.

Donovan and senior teammate Christian Porydzy (South Glastonbury, Conn.) scored the first 11 Trinity points to help the Bantams turn a 5-0 deficit into an 11-8 lead 3:28 into the game.  Jordan Booker gave the Bulldogs a 21-17 advantage at the 10:51 mark of the first half, but treys by Porydzy and Donovan sandwiched around a bucket inside by junior forward Donald Jorden (Tampa, Fla.) accounted for an 8-0 run that put Trinity back ahead, 37-28, with 1:59 on the clock.  First-year guard Steven Lora (North Providence, R.I.) hit a trey for the Bantams as time expired to make the score, 42-34, in the Bantams' favor. 

In the second half, Trinity extended its advantage to double digits at 53-42 on a Jorden layup with 16:18 on the clock, but Dean fought back and trailed by just six at 64-58 on a traditional three-pointer by Jordan Lynch-Rexroth midway through the second stanza.  Trinity scored the next seven points, five by Donovan, pushing its lead above 10 at 71-58 moments later, and cruised from there. 

The Bantams connected in 14 three-pointers and outrebounded the Bulldogs, 57-27, to offset 18 turnovers.  Four Bantam finished in double figures in scoring, as Porydzy and Jorden had 16 apiece, and senior tri-captain Kyle Padmore (Milton, Mass.) scored 15 points to join Donovan in double digits.  Padmore also dished out five assists.  Traijan Powell scored a team-high 15 points, while Booker notched 11 points, nine boards, and seven assists for Dean.