Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team couldn't protect a five-point lead in the final four minutes as Western Connecticut State University finished the game on an 11-4 scoring run to complete a regular-season sweep of the Warriors for the first time in nine years, 81-79, in a Little East Conference game Wednesday evening at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
Western (13-6, 7-3 LEC) entered the game locked in a four-way tie for first place in the conference but emerged in a two-way tie for the top spot with UMass Dartmouth after UMD knocked off visiting Rhode Island College, 81-74, and homestanding University of Southern Maine surprised UMass Boston, 80-78. Eastern (8-10, 4-5 LEC) falls into seventh place in the nine-team standings, a half-game behind Keene State College.
Western scored the first nine points of the game but the Warriors – who had lost to Western, 79-47, in the LEC opener in early December -- battled back to take a five-point lead in the final minute of the first half and held a three-point halftime lead. In a game featuring 11 ties and 12 lead changes, Eastern caught fire late in the game when junior guard Shawn Gassi (Syracuse) sank a pair of three-pointers and sophomore forward Sharown Fowler (Springfield, MA) swished two free throws to boost Eastern into a five-point, 75-70 lead with just under four minutes remaining.
As quickly as they gained the momentum, the Warriors lost it as Western responded with seven straight points for a two-point lead with just under three minutes left. With the score tied at 77-all, Eastern missed four straight shots and turned the ball over twice while Western got an inside bucket from 6-foot-7 inch senior forward Fenton Bradley and a pair of free throws from junior guard Legend Johnson with 33.6 seconds left. With the aid of missed Western free throws, Eastern stayed close, and senior guard Jake Collagan's (Wethersfield) long two-pointer in the final seconds pulled Eastern to within 81-79. Following an Eastern timeout with 1.9 seconds left, Eastern deflected Western's inbounds pass in front of the Eastern bench but could not gain control as time expired.
Bradley, freshman forward Jaheim Young and sophomore guard Ahmod Privott combined for 52 of Western's points. Bradley had a team-high 22 points with seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks; Privott 16 points and seven rebounds and Young 14 points and five rebounds.
Collagan led all players with 24 points (9-of-13 from the floor), with Fowler coming off the bench for 18 points, five rebounds and four assists, Gashi and junior guard Cory Muckle (Westbrook) 11 points each. In 27 minutes of the bench, sophomore point guard Tyreice Woods (Hartford) had six points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals with only one turnover.
Eastern visits Massachusetts Boston in an LEC game Saturday at 3 p.m.
