SPRINGFIELD — Nick Seretta stood in the hallway outside the visitor locker room Wednesday night, deep in the bowels of the basement at Springfield College’s Blake Arena. Along the wall to his left, a stack of Domino’s Pizza boxes had just been delivered, with Trinity College men’s basketball assistant coach Mark Eells arranging the post-game meal for a disappointed room of Bantams that had just suffered a second consecutive loss during the non-conference portion of the season.
Just minutes earlier, upstairs in the main arena, Seretta and the Bantams had seen a second-half lead disappear down the stretch to an undefeated Springfield College squad that remained undefeated at 6-0 — the program’s best start since 1997.
Trinity fell to 4-4 on the season with the 67-62 loss. It halted a three-game winning streak over Springfield, which coincides with Seretta’s tenure. The Greenfield native, a two-year senior captain, was making no excuses for the team’s second straight loss that has them at the .500 mark heading into Saturday night’s game against Dean College in the Ed Hockenbury Classic at Norwich University.
“We just need to play better, finish games,” said Seretta in the hallway afterward. “People are taking it from us, we need to be tougher.”
The college basketball season is a grind. The Bantams opened their regular-season slate on Nov. 15 against Bard College (a 93-74 win), and if things go according to plan, they’ll hopefully still be playing into late February and early March. There are a few more non-conference games left on the schedule, and the prestigious New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) portion of the season gets underway on Jan. 10 with a road trip to Bowdoin.
Seretta has seen plenty of success during his time at Trinity. The program is 52-32 since he’s been on the Hartford campus, including a 17-8 mark a year ago when he found his way into the starting backcourt and averaged 9.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per outing.
The stakes have only gone up this year.
“It means more this year,” Seretta began. “It means a lot every year, but senior year, I want to have a good year.”
Seretta scored 14 points in 34 minutes against Springfield College on Wednesday night — one of two trips the Bantams will make to Western Massachusetts this season (Feb. 14 at Amherst College). Eight of those points came in the first half, all on tough layups in traffic that helped jumpstart Trinity’s offense. The team’s defensive effort propelled them to a 35-27 halftime advantage.
It was a memorable first half mainly for what happened off the floor. Tip was delayed by more than 20 minutes, as the game clock and scoreboard were not functioning properly. An auxiliary board was brought in for the entirety of the first half, but fans in attendance were largely unable to keep tabs on the score and clock until things were corrected at intermission.
“We’re used to adversity,” said Seretta of the malfunctions. “Didn’t really bother us in the first half. We just didn’t finish the game in the second half.”
That issue has plagued Trinity at times early in the season. In three of the team’s four losses, they’ve led at halftime, only to surrender that advantage.
Growing up in Greenfield, Seretta has been on the Franklin County basketball radar for some time. After playing in the town rec leagues growing up, he eventually landed at Northfield Mount Hermon School for his high school years and ultimately decided on Trinity for college ball.
“It feels great to be at this level, being able to showcase your talent while being on a great team,” he said.
The decision to attend Trinity was two-fold. The basketball program certainly has a great reputation under 10-year head coach James Cosgrove, who has amassed a 142-99 record in nine-plus years at the school. Then there’s the academic side: Trinity is ranked as the No. 46 Liberal Arts college in the country by U.S. News and World Report. Ten NESCAC schools are listed in the top 50.
“I love everything about the school,” Seretta began. “Coach Cosgrove… our mentalities align. He’s a great coach. Wanted to play for a program that’s like me. It’s a tough program. Hard-nosed guys ready to go. And academically, it’s also a great fit, too. Wanted to challenge myself academically but also find a fit basketball-wise.”
Seretta visited Trinity during his senior year at NMH, and was on campus for the team’s NESCAC quarterfinal victory over Colby College in 2016.
“I knew right away that was where I wanted to be,” he recalled. “Went to a playoff game and they beat Colby. Saw the guys amped up after the game, with coach in the locker room, and I knew that was a spot I wanted to fit into it.”
Spotting Seretta, who wears No. 22 at Trinity, on the court these days is pretty easy. He’s currently sporting a mask that covers part of his face after breaking his nose last year. He had the injury fixed over the summer, and is trying to let it heal with the added protection.
“I’ve been wearing it all summer, through pickup and stuff,” he said of the protective gear. “I practice with it every day, work with it every day, so it’s pretty much second nature by now.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Seretta has started all eight games this season. He’s averaging a career-high 10.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, and poured in a season-high 19 points in a win over Manhattanville on Nov. 23. After this weekend’s tournament in Vermont, the Bantams are off until after the Christmas break when they host their own Trinity Holiday Invitational Dec. 30-31.