HARTFORD, CT. – The No. 16 Hood College men's basketball falls to the reigning DIII National Champions on Trinity College's home court as the Bathams best the Blazers 88-71 at the NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Tournament Sweet Sixteen in Ray Oosting Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
Inside the Box Score
Jevon Yarbrough (Hagerstown, Md./Williamsport) finishes with 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Garrett Cox (Glen Allen, VA/Glen Allen) posts 16 points and seven boards.
Kullen Robinson (Alexandria, Va./Alexandria City) grabs 10 rebounds.
How it Happened
The Sweet Sixteen didn't start out as sweet for this high-flying Hood squad in the open as Trinity got out to a quick 12-0 lead, including a pair of turnovers that would lead to emphatic Bantam scores. Hood started 0-5 from the field.
The Blazers finally got a spark with a defensive stop that ran out the shot clock and then in transition
Karron Mallory's (Manchester, Pa./Northeastern) layup gently sitting on the rim before falling in and gave Hood relieved the pressure on the lungs.
Later, a Yarbrough drive with a little drive-by contact landed in the bucket to put Hood on the board again to gain some familiarity.
Trinity played with a lot of physicality, not at the rim but from the first dribble to leave the ball handler with a lot of damage before even getting to the play at the basket.
The Blazers chose to not back down from the fight, leading the way was
Garrett Cox (Glen Allen, VA/Glen Allen) with hard-earned and-1s on two separate occasions. Giving the Hood squad a spearhead to go at the belly of the beast, Cox closed the gap to as little as eight.
The Blazers turned the ball over nine times in the first half compared to the Bantam's four. Hood combated by being fouled 10 times to push the host starters into foul trouble.
After the 46-35 deficit at the half, Hood had a few shots blocked to open the second as Trinity opens with 7-0 run. Even when playing from behind for all of the game, the boys from Frederick fought with a pair of threes from
Troy Fulton (Denver, N.C./Lincoln Charter) and Robinson to squeeze the gap.
Yarbrough got loose in the remaining minutes and taught defenders why he was on national notice, refusing to yield with his action near the bucket.
The hosts got hot from the arc and extended to almost 20 and sailed with the stance until the buzzer sounded.
"Hat tip to them, they are good defenders and have some big kids that move their feet really well," said head coach
Chad Dickman.
"I think we got away from how we play, and didn't create those miscommunications for their defense as we usually do."
The squad finishes with their farthest postseason run taking on some of the country's toughest opponents.
"Anytime you can make a run like this, its impressive and it took the reigning national champions on their home court to do," said Dickman.
"We definitely got the horses coming back next year to make a run, we got the offseason to lock in mentally because the sky is the limit and these guys know how to win."
Analysis
Trinity had 10 guys mark seven-plus minutes and only three that surpassed 30 minutes played. All of Hood's starting five played 30-plus minutes and both Huseby and Yarbrough played the entire game.
Hood made five three-pointers in the game, their fewest in a game all year.
The Blazers had 14 total turnovers.
The Blue & Grey held up against a bigger opponent and only lost the rebound battle 42-38.
For the Opponent
Drew Lazarre earned a double double including 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also added three blocks.
Jarrel Okorougo led Bantam scorers with 24 points, shooting 50 percent from the field.
Up Next
The squad ends their season with a 26-4 record, breaking their single season regular and postseason win total in the process while claiming their first MAC Commonwealth Championship since 2022 and their first NCAA Tournament wins ever all in the matter of a week.
Jevon Yarbrough (Hagerstown, Md./Williamsport) finishes as the single season assist and scorer for the program and claimed MAC Commonwealth Player of the Year and various Tournament MVP.
Chad Dickman finishes with his second MAC Commonwealth Coach of the Year Award and his third NCAA Tournament appearance in five years.
The team broke almost every offensive single season team program record and finished as a Top 5 offense in the country.
