HARTFORD, Conn. – The Connecticut College men's basketball team suffered a 58-45 setback at No. 6 Trinity College on Friday night in a NESCAC showdown at Ray Oosting Gymnasium.

The Bantams (16-0 overall, 3-0 NESCAC) handed the Camels their first conference loss of the season thanks to a strong effort by the starting five, which accounted for all but three points on the night. Henry Vetter led the group with 18 points and eight rebounds and Ben Callahan-Gold added 14 points and five boards. 

Trinity, the NCAA Division III leader in scoring defense, held the Camels to a season-low 45 points on 40-percent shooting. David Murray (Jackson Heights, N.Y.) paced the Camels with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Cam Schainfeld (Hamilton, Mass.) chipped in 12 points and five assists. 

In a low-scoring first half, Murray netted 10 points to keep Conn in the mix. His jump hook with 4:56 remaining gave the Camels a 14-12 lead, but the Bantams outscored them by a 14-5 margin the rest of the way to lead 26-19 at the break.

Conn kept chipping away at the deficit in the second half and got within three thanks to back-to-back buckets by Schainfeld with 11:38 to go. Later, a layup by Jarron Flynn (Roslindale, Mass.) made it a two-point game with 8:15 to play.

Trinity once again responded, reeling off eight straight points to bring the lead to double digits. Callahan-Gold supplied three free throws in the spurt, and Vetter capped the stretch with one of his four three-pointers on the night. 

Conn twice cut the deficit to five in the closing minutes but never got closer. Trinity sewed up the win by going 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final minute. The Bantams enjoyed a huge scoring advantage at the charity stripe (18-0) for the game, attempting 23 free throws to Conn's four.

Conn (11-4 overall, 2-1 NESCAC) will next host Wesleyan University on Sunday, January 14 at 1:00 p.m.