Box Score HARTFORD, Conn. -- With its fourth win in its last six games Monday night, the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team was within striking distance of the coveted .500 mark heading into the championship game of the Trinity College Holiday Invitational against the host school Tuesday afternoon.
And then... it wasn't, after Trinity shot 65 percent from the floor in a 61-point second half and eased to a 114-77 victory at Ray Oosting Gymnasium for its fourth straight victory this year.
Capitalizing on an assortment of open perimeter and three-point shots and uncontest baskets in the paint in the second half, Trinity (8-4) put behind it eight years of frustration against Eastern (4-6) with its first victory over the Warriors after eight straight losses dating back to a 75-72 loss on its home court in 2008-09.
Included in the losses were a 72-65 setback in the 2016-17 tournament final and a 24-point drubbing (74-50) at Geissler Gymnasium in 2011-12.
Eastern led only once when senior guard
Jake Collagan (Wethersfield) converted a jumper on the opening possession of the game, but never again pulled even after Collagan
drained a tying (15-15) 22-foot three-pointer from the right of the circle 6:26 into the game that represented the 1,000th point of his four-year collegiate career -- 844th in his three-year Eastern career.
Coming off a 17-point effort in Monday night's shocking 77-76 first-round win over No. 12 nationally-ranked Babson College, Collagan connected on his first four shots (two of them three-pointers) against Trinity. After his fifth shot rimmed out, Collagan took a pass from senior guard
Jhoan Gill (East Windsor) two possessions later, and jab-stepped once before floating a successful three-pointer over the defense to reach the milestone with his 13th point of the game.
Collagan scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting in the first half and shared game-high scoring honors with 21 points in 28 minutes. He was 7-of-15 from the floor (3-of-7 from distance), and canned all four of his free throws to improve his season percentage to 81.3 (26-of-32).
Collagan represented Eastern on the five-person all-tournament team.
At right: Jake Collagan connects on a floater in the first half of the Trinity College Holiday Invitational championship game Tuesday afternoon.
Junior guard
Cory Muckle (Westbrook) followed Collagan with 16 points in 33 minutes and sophomore forward
Sharown Fowler (Springfield, MA) added 13 points off the bench.
Nick Seretta led six Trinity players in double figures with 21 points. He did not miss a shot, going 7-of-7 from the floor (2-of-2 from distance) and 5-of-5 from the stripe.
Eastern hosts UMass Boston Saturday at 3 p.m. in its Little East Conference home-opener.
