WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Looking to keep the momentum after a 10-point victory on Friday against St. Joseph's College Brooklyn, Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball faced off against Trinity College in the championship game of the Eastern Connecticut Tip-Off Tournament in Geissler Gymnasium. The Bantams (2-0) used an offensive explosion from senior guard Tyler Mola in the first half, who scored 18 points in seven minutes (6-10 shooting), and a balanced offensive attack in the second half to propel themselves past the Warriors (1-2) on Saturday, 75-65.

 Early on, Eastern would feed off the energy of their home crowd to jump out to a 5-0 lead behind a three pointer by senior guard Cory Muckle (Westbrook) and layup by junior forward Quinton Lott (Bridgeport). Trinity would respond when junior forwards Dana Smith and C.J. Redd knocked down a jumper and a three pointer respectively to even thing back up in the early going. Both teams would exchange baskets before the Warriors pulled ahead by five again with a three pointer from senior guard Thomas Close (East Hampton) and a pair of free throws from senior guard Tyreice Woods (Hartford). However, another 5-0 run by the Bantams offensive which put up 113 points against Mitchell College on Friday night, evened the score up at 12.
 
    As the first half wore on, Eastern would maintain a five-point edge before Mola came off the bench for Trinity. The senior guard would proceed to score nine straight points via two three pointers along with a two-pointer and converted free throw after the score amidst a pair of Warrior baskets to bring the game back to a tie. The Bantams would then take their first lead of the game with 7:32 remaining in the first half following a layup from senior center Jared Whitt, 25-23.
 
   

Trinity would extend their lead to eight with seven straight points all from their sophomore forward Gilbert Otoo. The Warriors would stay in the game as during the run by Otoo as Woods went on a 5-0 run of his own for Eastern to prevent the deficit from growing larger. With his team ahead by five, Tyler Mola would score the Bantams next six points while Close and sophomore guard Max Lee (Norwich) helped keep the deficit manageable for the Warriors as they headed into the half trailing by seven, 41-34.
 
    Despite Trinity pushing their lead to nine multiple times in the second half, Eastern refused to back down. Using effective guard play from Lee, Woods, and Muckle, the Warriors were able to trim the deficit down to four with 13:32 remaining. However, a two-minute scoring drought would prove costly, as the Bantams regained a nine-point advantage just over half way though the final 20 minutes, 59-50.
 
    Eastern would bring the crowd to life again, using an 11-2 run to knot the game up at 61 with under six minutes to go in regulation. Trinity would respond with a 7-0 run of their own while the Warrior offense turned the ball over once and missed their next three shots. Quinton Lott would break up the run and Eastern would trail by only five with under two minutes remaining in regulation.
 
    That would prove to be the closest the comeback attempt for the Warriors would go as the Bantams pulled away down the stretch of regulation to defeat Eastern by a final score of 75-65 to win their first Eastern Connecticut Tip-Off Tournament in the team's first appearance.

    Tyler Mola led the way for Trinity with 20 points (7-14 shooting, 4-8 from three) in only 16 minutes off the bench while Gilbert Otoo finished close behind with 16 points (7-13 shooting) and six rebounds on the afternoon.
 
    Cory Muckle finished the game with 19 points (7-17 shooting, 3-10 from three) in 39 minutes played while Quinton Lott fell a point short of his first double-double of the season and fourth of his career, finishing with nine points and 13 rebounds in 32 minutes.
 
    In the consolation game between Mitchell College and St. Joseph's College Brooklyn, the Mariners (1-2) used a rally late in the second half to pull away from the Bears (0-2) and earn their first win of the season, 81-78. Evenly matched for much of the first half, St Joseph's took an eight-point lead with eight minutes left thanks to a 6-0 run to go in front 23-15. The Bears would maintain their eight-point advantage for several minutes before the Mariners responded at one point with a mini-run led by five straight points from senior guard Hunter Baillargeon to cut their deficit to one. A layup by senior forward Jacob Tully before the end of the half would send Mitchell into the locker room trailing by only three, 35-32, against St. Joseph's.

    The Mariners would come out of the locker room with a 7-2 run off of five points from junior guard Alfonzo Stokes to take their first lead since 16:24 in the first half in which they were ahead 9-8. The Bears would respond after falling behind by three following a free throw and layup from Tully, using a 7-0 spurt from senior forward Chris Mikos and sophomore guard Emmanuel Coffy to go back in front by four, 48-44 with 14:35 remaining.Using an effective press break, Mitchell began applying pressure to St. Joseph's on the inbounds which forced the Bears to move to a more up-tempo offense. The change in defensive strategy helped lead the Mariners back into the game before taking a 61-60 lead with 7:06 remaining off a pair of free throws by Stokes at which point they would never look back.
 
    Over the final seven minutes, Mitchell would lead by as many as six points as St. Joseph's attempted to climb back into the game. Trailing by six with 21 seconds remaining, the Bears got a layup from junior guard James Mojica and three-point from junior guard Evan Sirakis following a turnover by junior guard Mikey Buscetto to pull within one with 1.3 seconds left. After a foul by Mikos, Stokes would head to the line and hit both free throws for Mitchell to put them ahead by three. As time expired, Mikos heaved a shot three-quarters of the court which had the right trajectory but fell a couple feet short of the rim as the Mariners came away with the 81-78 victory in the Eastern Connecticut Tip-Off Tournament Consolation Game.
 
    Chris Mikos finished the game with his second double-double of the tournament, scoring 29 points along with 16 rebounds and six assists. Alfonzo Stokes finished with 23 points for Mitchell while junior guard Jalen Benson filled up the scoresheet with 12 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, and six steals to finish the two-day tournament with 31 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, and eight steals.
 
    The Eastern Connecticut Tip-Off All Tournament Team consists of six players, including the tournament Most Outstanding Player. This year's All Tournament Team was St. Joseph's senior forward Chris Mikos, Mitchell College junior guard Alfonzo Stokes, Trinity College senior guard Tyler Mola, Eastern senior guard Tyriece Woods, and Eastern sophomore guard Max Lee.
 
    The tournament's Most Outstanding Player was Trinity College's sophomore forward Gilbert Otoo who over the span of two days scored a team-high 27 points against Mitchell College and 16 points against Eastern in the championship. Otoo shot 56.2% from the floor (18-32 shooting) and 60% from the free throw line (6-10) in 59 minutes played.
 
    Eastern will now head to Springfield, Massachusetts to take on Springfield College on Wednesday at 5:30 PM. The Warriors are 3-6 all-time against the Pride but have taken three of the last four matchups between the two teams. The last win came during the 2018-2019 season in the Springfield College Tournament in which Eastern came away with a 20-point victory, 74-54.