Box Score  

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Senior forward Jalen Hamblin (West Hartford) had nine points and grabbed three offensive rebounds to spark a 13-point run over three minutes early in the second half as the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team  posted a 76-63 non-conference victory over Mitchell College Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
 
The win is the 14th straight non-conference one for Eastern (3-0) over three years as the Warriors improve to 6-0 all-time against Mitchell (0-3). The Warriors began 6-0 last year but were only 8-11 the rest of the way en route to a 14-11 record.
 
Leading by four in the opening seconds of the second half, Eastern scored 13 unanswered points to take command, 50-35, five minutes into the half. The 6-foot-7 Hamblin put back his own misses twice in that stretch, canned his first three-pointer of the year following a defensive rebound by junior Drew Soltis (Bridgeport) and also came up with a  steal that set up senior Dominick Dao's (Terryville) points in the paint.
 
During that decisive stretch, Eastern converted six of ten field goals, with senior point guard Michael Carothers (Queens, NY) finding Soltis inside to start the run and later Hamblin for two points that made it an eight-point lead, 43-35.
 
Hamblin contributed a balanced effort with nine points and four rebounds in the first half and 11 points and four boards in the second for a game-high total of 20 points. He led three Eastern double-digit scorers, with first-year junior guard Ray Carter (Springfield, MA) adding 18 points (7-for-15 FG) –  12 coming on four three-point field goals -- and senior forward Julian Sanchez (Willimantic) chipping in ten points and grabbing 11 rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. Soltis led all players with 14 rebounds in helping Eastern nearly double Mitchell's rebound total. The Warriors turned 21 offensive rebounds in 18 second chance points. Sanchez and Soltis combined for 11 offensive rebounds.
 
Mitchell led three times early and by six points midway through a low-scoring first half. With the score tied, Eastern ended the first half on a 17-11 run to push it into its six-point halftime lead. Held scoreless to that point, Dao swished a jumper and  connected inside following Soltis' defensive rebound to give Eastern the lead for good, 24-20 with four minutes left in the first half. With the clock winding down in the first half, Hamblin grabbed Carothers' miss and put it back in at the horn to give the Warriors their largest lead to that point at 37-31.
 
As it has thus far through the early season, Eastern's bench – led by Sanchez – made a major contribution to the win. Junior guard Pedro Perry (New London) provided a spark in the second half with a pair of three-point field goals.
 
For the Mariners, 6-foot-3 inch senior forward Brandon Lee and 6-foot-4 inch sophomore forward Abdul Mansaray kept their team in contention until midway through the second half. The pair combined for 23 points and 14 rebounds, sinking 11 of 21 field goals and adding three assists, two blocks and two steals. Lee had eight points (4-for-6 FG) and five rebounds in the first half. Junior guard Troy Butler led Mitchell with 15 points.
 
Eastern visits defending national champion Trinity College (1-0) Tuesday at 7 p.m. before hosting Connecticut College Nov. 25, both games coming out of conference. Eastern won nine straight in the series but has dropped the last three to Trinity, which opened its season Saturday with a 101-39 dismantling of Lehman College. The Bantams, 30-3 a year ago, are the No. 1-ranked team in the pre-season, garnering 23 of 25 first-place votes.