WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team never trailed and took an 18-point lead into the final 12 minutes but had to withstand several anxious moments in a 68-58 victory over St. Joseph's College New York in the first game of the Eastern Connecticut Tip-Off Tournament Friday night at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
 
Trinity College (1-0) moved into the final with a hard-fought 113-91 win over Mitchell College in Friday's second game, with sophomore forward Gilbert Otoo leading five players in double figures with 27 points.
 
Eastern meets Trinity in the 3 p.m. championship game Saturday after St. Joseph's and Mitchell faceoff in the third-place game at 1 p.m.
 
Leading by 18 eight minutes into the second half, Eastern (1-1) missed eight consecutive shots and turned the ball over four times that allowed St. Joseph's (1-0) to creep to within three with just under six minutes left.
 
At that point, senior guard Thomas Close (East Hampton) nailed a three-pointer off a pass from sophomore point guard Max Lee (Norwich) before Lee came up with consecutive steals, sinking two free throws and an inside shot in that stretch that allowed Eastern to restore a ten-point lead with just under five minutes left. Senior guard Tyreice Woods (Hartford) and Close led four double-figure scorers with 16 points each, junior post Quinton Lott (Bridgeport adding 11 points and senior guard Cory Muckle (Westbrook) ten.
 
In the second half, Lee scored all seven of his points and added, six rebounds, six steals and three assists and finished with seven points, 11 rebounds, seven steals and six assists on the night.
 
Senior forward Chris Mikos  sparked the Bears' second-half comeback by scoring 18 of his game-high 28 points. In the game, Mikos was 13-for-20 from the floor and added ten rebounds. He was one of only two St. Joseph's players in double figures.
 
In-state opponents Trinity and Mitchell battled throughout their high-scoring, hotly-contested matchup in the second semifinal. The score was tied ten times and had six lead changes. Trinity led by only a point with nine minutes left but outscored the Mariners, 34-13 the rest of the way.
 
For Trinity, senior post Donald Jorden followed Otoo with 21 points and seven rebounds. Otoo and Jorden combined on 19-for-29 from the floor.  Junior Dana Smith contributed 13 of his 18 points in the second half.
 
Mitchell (0-2) got 22 points (9-for-13), 11 assists, six rebounds and five steals from junior guard Mikey Buscetto and 16 points and six rebounds from junior guard Alfonzo Stokes.