Hartford, Conn. – Junior guard Jaquann Starks (Hartford, Conn.) had a game-high 18 points, 12 in the second half, to lead the Trinity College Bantams gutted out a 60-47 victory over the visiting Salisbury University Sea Gulls in the second round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Tournament this evening on Ogrodnik Court in Ray Oosting Gymnasium.  The Bantams improve to 22-6 and will face New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) rival Bates in the third round on Friday, March 13 at a site to be determined.  In the first half, Trinity shot 54.2 percent from the field (13-24) while holding the Sea Gulls to 22.7 percent field-goal shooting (5-22) to jump to a 29-16 lead at the break and never led by less than six points in the second stanza to advance to the NCAA Third Round for the first time since 1998-99.

Trailing, 5-2, early after an old-fashioned three-point play by Salisbury junior forward Gordon Jeter (Easton, Md.) but scored 10 points in a row to go ahead, 14-5, on a trey by junior guard Rick Naylor (Sudbury, Vt.) just under seven minutes into the contest.  The Bantams extended their lead to 23-10 at the 5:49 mark on a layup by senior forward Alex Conaway (New Haven, Conn.), and opened up their biggest lead of the night at 29-14 with 2:15 on the clock thanks to a steal in the Salisbury back court and fast-break layup by junior forward Shay Ajayi (Brooklyn, N.Y.).  Sea Gull senior guard Connor Strickland (Raleigh, N.C.) made a pair of free throws 11 seconds later, and neither team scored the rest of the way to make the score, 29-16, at intermission.  Conaway, senior tri-captain George Papadeas (Athens, Greece), and Starks had six points each to lead the balanced Trinity offense in the first half, while the Bantam defense held Salisbury junior Wyatt Smith (Abington, Md.) to two points in each half after Smith had scored 20 in the first stanza and 37 overall against Eastern Connecticut last evening.

Trinity maintained its double-digit lead for just over half of the second frame, before a traditional three-point play by Sea Gill junior forward Kyle Savercool (Silver Spring, Md.) pulled the visitors to within 38-20 at the 9:32 mark.  A drive by Salisbury junior guard Adrien Straughn (New Carrolton, Md.) after a Trinity miss cut the Bantam lead to six and the score hovered around there for the next five minutes before a Papadeas slam and a Starks three-pointer put the home team ahead, 51-38, with 3:09 remaining.  The Bantams kept their lead in the double digits the rest of the way, sinking all six of its free throws in the final two minutes.

Starks made four three-pointers in seven attempts and sank all six of his free throws, while Papadeas and Ajayi added 12 points apiece.  Papadeas also grabbed a game-high seven boards and blocked a shot, while Ajayi grabbed six boards and made three steals.  Bantam senior tri-captain Hart Gliedman (New York, N.Y.) and junior guard Andrew Hurd (Windsor, Conn.) dished five assists each, and Hurd added three steals.  Salisbury was led by sophomore Justin Witmer (Rockville, Md.) with 10 points, while Smith pulled down a game-high six rebounds.  The teams committed 19 turnovers each and both squads shot just under 80 percent each on 41 combined free throws.  Salisbury finished 13-for-44 from the field (29.5 %) and 4-for-22 from deep (18.2%), while Trinity was 20-for-42 from the field (47.6%) and 5-for-12 (41.7%) from long range.