WORCESTER, Mass – Following a last second victory on Wednesday night against Springfield College, Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball continued their Massachusetts road trip with a matchup against Worcester State University on Saturday at Brissette '88 Court. The Warriors (2-3) would fall to the Lancers (3-3) by a final score of 85-64 in the 65
th matchup between the two teams.
Both teams would exchange baskets in the early going with eight of the ten starters on the floor recording points in the first seven minutes of play in which Worcester State found themselves ahead by three after a layup from junior guard Sam Dion. Dion would put the Lancers ahead by five on another layup before Warriors junior forward Rakesh Tibby (East Hartford) responded with a layup of his own to trim the lead again.
That was when Worcester State would go on a 7-0 run led by graduate center Erik Bjorn and graduate guard Chris Cardoso to give the Lancers a 10-point advantage with nearly 10 minutes gone in the first half. However Eastern would respond with a run of their own, scoring 10 of the next 13 points of the game to trim the deficit back down to three. The run was led by sophomore guard Max Lee (Norwich) who had the first four points of the run and a steal before heading to the bench for some rest. Lee would fill out the stat sheet in the first half, recording 6 points (2-3 shooting) to go along with five assists, three steals, and two rebounds.
Trailing by five with just over 8 ½ minutes left in the first half, the Warriors would get their next five points from senior guard Thomas Close (East Hampton) mixed in with a Cardoso layup to pull within two, Close would also record two steals and an assist over that minute and a half stretch.
The unrelenting Worcester State offense would continue to attack the Eastern defense after their lead was closed to two. The Lancers would use a 10-2 run fueled by back-to-back threes from Cardoso and senior guard Tyler Spencer along with a pair of free throws from Spencer to go back ahead by 10 with five minutes remaining in the first half.
Heading into the halftime break, the Warriors would still trail by 10 points, 47-37, after senior guard Cory Muckle (Westbrook) converted all three free throws following a foul by Cardoso on his three-point attempt with nine seconds left and Erik Bjorn's layup as time expired. The Lancers shot 57% from the floor in the first half (20-of-35) while hitting five of their eight three-point attempts (62.5%) and outrebounding the Warriors 21-10. Eastern would convert nine Worcester State turnovers into 10 points compared to two points off five turnovers for their opponent.
The Warriors would be forced to call timeout less than three minutes into the second half as the Lancers went on a quick 7-0 run off of three baskets from three different Worcester State players. Eastern would miss their first nine shots of the second half, including five three-point attempts which allowed the Lancers to extend their advantage to 19 points with 17 ½ minutes left. Thomas Close would breakup the run with a pair of free throws to end a nearly three-minute scoring drought for the Warriors.
Despite the large deficit, Eastern would continue to try chipping away as the second half wore on. With just under 13 ½ minutes left, a layup by sophomore guard Cade Ensinger (Deep River) would bring the Warriors within 12 points, forcing the Lancers to call a timeout. The timeout would spark an 18-2 run for Worcester State to give them their largest lead of the game at 28 points with just over 6 ½ minutes to play which would prove to be the difference maker as Eastern would fall on the road to the Lancers, 85-64, for first since the 2003-2004 season.
The Lancers saw three players finish in double figures with sophomore forward Ryan Rubenskas finish with 14 points, Sam Dion with 12 points, and Chris Cardoso leading the way for Worcester State with 18 points on the afternoon. Rubenskas recorded a double-double, finishing with 10 rebounds to go along with his 14 points while teammate Erik Bjorn picked up 12 rebounds and eight points, falling just shy of a double-double in the game.
Sophomore guard Zak Cunningham (East Haven) and sophomore forward Andrew Cutter (Trumbull) saw their first action in a Warrior uniform. Cunningham would finish with three points (1-4 shooting), three rebounds, and a block in four minutes while Cutter recorded a rebound during his three minutes played during the second half.
The Warriors will return home now to square off against Johnson and Wales University on Tuesday, November 23rd at 5:00 PM in Geissler Gymnasium. Eastern is 2-2 all-time against the Wildcats, dropping their last matchup in 2019 by 17 points at the Wildcat Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The last time the two teams faced each other in Geissler Gymnasium was the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament back in 2018 in which the Warriors came away with the 75-59 victory.
