BOSTON, Mass. – The road woes for Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball have been well-documented and talked about. Beginning a three-game stretch of road games and playing six of their final nine games away from home, the Warriors (11-5, LEC 7-2) have something to prove. They have to prove they are more than just a team that can win at home, but one that can win no matter where they play. It started with a Little East Conference matchup with UMass Boston in Clark Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.
After recovering from a slow start to take the lead at the half, a 23-5 second half run by the Beacons (7-9, LEC 3-4) proved to be the difference maker as Eastern dropped their second conference game of the season and first this season when leading or tied at halftime (10-0), 62-54. The Warriors are now 2-4 on the road this season.
Back in December, both teams met in Geissler Gymnasium for their Little East Conference opener and combined for 68 first half points, the second time around was a different story with neither team able to get anything going. Junior guard Jalen Williams (Simsbury) got the scoring started early for the Warriors with a 5-0 run after a free throw by UMass Boston's first-year guard Stephen DiGregorio to put Eastern ahead 5-1 with 17:59 remaining.
This would be the start of a four-plus minute scoring drought for either team before a bank shot three from first-year forward Ike Eluwa with 13:18 left broke the scoreless streak and made it a 5-4 game. The Beacons started the game without recording a field goal for the first 3:58 of play while going 1-for-2 from the charity stripe and committing six turnovers.
UMass Boston would have a brief scare after DiGregorio – who is second on the team in scoring with 12.1 points per game – knocked down a three to give the Beacons a two-point advantage with 10:11 remaining in the half. The guard would hobble to the bench with what looked to be a left knee injury before returning less than two minutes later to the court with his team down three, 12-9, after a 5-0 run by the Warriors led by a pair of free throws from first-year guard Benjamin Toussaint (Bellmore, NY) and a three from sophomore guard Cade Ensinger (Deep River) put Eastern back ahead.
DiGregorio would embark on a 4-0 run of his own en route to scoring six consecutive points for UMass Boston to give him 10 points and put the Beacons back ahead, 15-14. Senior guard Charles Mitchell – who leads the team in scoring this year with 20.6 points per game – recorded his first three and only points of the first half with 5:11 left on an and-one opportunity that put his team ahead by three, 18-15.
Charles Mitchell had 12 first half points on his way to 33 total points in the previous matchup against Eastern this season.
Trailing by three with 2:58 to go in the first half, the Warriors used a 7-0 run to close out the opening 20 minutes and carry a four-point lead, 25-21 into the half. Senior guard Tyreice Woods (Hartford) knocked down a three along with a pair of free throws while junior forward Quinton Lott (Bridgeport) hit a layup at the buzzer to give Eastern the momentum heading into the locker room.
After the Warrior defense held DiGregorio to just 11 points in 40 minutes in the first matchup, DiGregorio finished the first half with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 17 minutes played.
Tyreice Woods paced Eastern with nine points on 2-for-5 shooting and went 4-for-4 from the line while sophomore guard Max Lee (Norwich) continued to make his presence felt as the floor general for this Warrior team with nine rebounds and four assists while taking no shots in 20 minutes.
Both teams sunk just seven shots from the field while Eastern made 4-of-12 attempts from long range and UMass Boston followed closely behind shooting 3-for-8 from the same distance.
Coming out for the second half, the Warriors used a 5-0 run to take a nine-point lead after an and-one converted by Williams and layup by junior forward Rakesh Tibby (East Hartford), 32-23. After the Beacons got with seven with 15:28 left, Eastern punched back with a 4-0 run by Woods to give the Warriors their first double-digit lead of the game, 38-27, and give the senior guard 15 points in the game.
But UMass Boston would not back down and after senior guard Thomas Close (East Hampton) hit from long range to give Eastern their largest lead at 12 points, the Beacons began to claw their way back with 12:32 left in regulation.
In just over three minutes, UMass Boston would cut the Warrior lead down to three points after a 9-0 run which featured scoring from four different Beacon players as well as three missed shots and two turnovers from Eastern made it 41-38 with 9:28 remaining. UMass Boston would take their first lead since the 2:58 mark of the first half when a three in the left corner by first-year guard Emanuel Zayas pushed the Beacons ahead, 45-44, with only seven minutes to play.
After a pair of Lott free throws helped the Warriors regain the lead, UMass Boston would use a 10-2 run to pull ahead by seven, 55-48, behind three points from junior forward Malik Lorquet, a DiGregorio and Charles Mitchell layup, and three from junior guard Tommy Burris. The run capped off a 23-5 run over an eight-minute span for the Beacons.
Eastern would refuse to back down as Williams finishing on a pair of layups and a jumper from Lee with 1:26 left pull the Warriors back to within two, 56-54. However, UMass Boston would finish the game with a 6-0 run as Charles Mitchell and Zayas each hit a pair of free throws following a layup by Charlie Mitchell with 56 seconds remaining to give the Beacons a 62-54 win and a season series split with the Warriors.
After scoring 33 points in the first matchup, Charles Mitchell was held to just 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting while Stephen DiGregorio eclipsed his first matchup total with 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting.
Tyreice Woods led Eastern on the scoresheet with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting while playing all 40 minutes of the game. Jalen Williams followed close behind with 12 points on 5-for-13 shooting in 32 minutes.
The only other Warrior to play all 40 minutes was Max Lee who finished with a career-high 15 rebounds while tacking on six assists and four points on 2-of-4 shooting for Eastern. Lee's previous career high in rebounds was 11, set back on November 11th against St. Joseph's (NY).
The Warriors return to action on Monday, January 24th against Keene State College in a Little East Conference matchup at Spaulding Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM. After winning six consecutive games against the Owls between the 2016-2017 season and 2018-2019 season, Eastern has dropped five of their last seven matchups to their LEC rival, including a nail-biting one-point loss, 80-79, in the Little East Conference Semifinals last season.
Keene State currently sits at 7-0 in conference play with the Warriors a game and a half off the pace at 7-2. A win for Eastern would give them the head-to-head tiebreaker for the time being and bring them within a half game of the conference lead after being picked to finish sixth in the LEC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
