"I think on any given night, it could be just a three minute stretch where someone's really good." That was Will Dorion (6'2''-G)'s reaction after the 2025 Division III men's basketball national title game, a contest in which Dorion had his few minutes, and Andrew Lazarre (6'2''-G) had a few. Jarrel Okorougo (6'5''-G/F) had more than a few. And Henry Vetter (6'5''-G/F) had the last few. The last few minutes of the 2025 title game will be long remembered for Vetter's finish. The Trinity Bantams junior guard was 2-for-10 in the first 36 minutes of the game, but he hit three big shots down the stretch, plus a free throw, to help his team rally from a 55-50 deficit. And that included the game-winning three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining, as Trinity (Conn.) came away with Walnut and Bronze, defeating New York University 64-60 for the 2025 national title. "Honestly, Will (Dorion) got a good shot, he missed it, Trevor (McDonald), huge offensive rebound, got blocked," Vetter explained. "Drew Andrew Lazarre, I mean, seriously, he's one of the best rebounding guards in the country, and swung it to me, just one more, trusted me and I just let it fly." After a timeout, NYU's final attempt was a three in the corner from Hampton Sanders (5'11''-PG), which was off-line with 0.5 seconds left. Okorougo got the rebound and was fouled, making one of two, and the final half-second rolled off, making the Bantams the champions for the first time in program history. "I got a wide open, one more three from Drew and I knocked it down, but you know, the stuff that happened in the 39 minutes before really, really kept us afloat and I'm just glad I had an opportunity," Vetter said. The Bantams (30-3) had leaned for many of the 40 minutes on their D3hoops.com All-America big man, Jarrel Okorougo, as he shot 6-for-9 in the first half and finished with 20 points and nine rebounds for the day. Dorion opened the game with a three-pointer on the way to eight first half points. In fact, Okorougo and Dorion were the two players who had any offensive success in the first half for Trinity, as the Bantams went 11-for-34 from the floor and 2-for-13 from three-point range. Okorougo and Dorion combined to shoot 9-for-15, while the rest of the team went 2-for-19 in a very physical game. NYU led 30-27 at the half. After Tristan How hit a three-pointer to open the second half for the Violets (29-2), Trinity rattled off the next 11 points, including two buckets from Okorougo and two from Andrew Lazarre to help the Bantams build a 38-33 lead. Zay Freeney (6'2''-G) came down and hit a three-pointer for NYU to help stem the tide after Hampton Sanders went to the bench with his third foul. Sanders came back and hit a driving layup, drew the foul, then converted on the free throw with 1:28 left to put his team up 60-56. But that was the last points that NYU scored, as Trinity finished on an 8-0 run to win it. Okorougo finished with the game-high 20 points, while Vetter added 14 and Dorion and Andrew Lazarre added 10 apiece. NYU got 15 points from Sanders, 14 from Freeney and 12 points and 12 rebounds from How. But as much attention as the offense gets, it's the defense that has always driven this Trinity team. If they miss a shot, the response is that they have to buckle back down on defense. And the Bantams missed 40 shots on Saturday, including going just 5-for-26 from three-point range. But the defense was solid. NYU did not score a single second-chance point. NYU got just six points off of turnovers. And they scored just 60 points a season-low. "They have so many players," Trinity coach James Cosgrove said after the game. "They've got so many fifth-year guys who were playing at higher levels and have done unbelievable things. So for us to lock 'em up like that is a great tribute to these guys and the effort and the attention to detail that they put in to, to everything that we do. And we don't win this game if we don't have that."
Courtesy of: d3hoops.com