Box Score  

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – After a comfortable first-round win over Penn College of Technology Monday evening in the first round of the Eastern Holiday Invitational men's basketball tournament, Eastern Connecticut State University faced a real test in Nichols College in Tuesday's championship game, finally prevailing, 77-68, to post its third title (second straight) in the five-year history of the tournament. Eastern's (9-1) sixth straight win put an end to Nichols' six-game winning streak.
 
Nichols (7-5) came into Tuesday's contest off the back of a thrilling double-overtime win against nationally-ranked Wesleyan University, which was coming off an NCAA Division III Final Four appearance a year ago. The Warriors' only loss this year came six weeks ago at defending national champion Trinity College. They improved to 5-0 this year at Geissler Gymnasium, with Tuesday's nine-point win over Nichols falling one point shy of giving them double-figure wins in every home game.
 
Jalen Hamblin (West Hartford) and Dominick Dao (Terryville) got Eastern off to a quick start, combining for the first 12 points for the Warriors. Dominic Mello gave Nichols some momentum halfway through the first, scoring 5 in a row during a short 7-0 run. Julian Sanchez (Willimantic) was able to continue his good form from yesterday afternoon late in the first half, scoring 8 points and grabbing 8 rebounds for his team. He would finish the game with 15 rebounds, 6 more than any other player (Drew Soltis (Bridgeport) had 9).
 
Sanchez, the New England leader in field goal percentage, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament, shooting 72% from the field and 7-9 from behind the arc. He averaged 23.5 points over the two games and averaged 11 rebounds a game. Sanchez also added 2 assists and 2 steals, coming off the bench for both games.
 
After an inspired performance against Wesleyan, the Warriors were able to hold Javen Flowers-Smith of Nichols to just 3 points in the half. Overall, the first half was filled with inefficient three-point shooting on both ends of the floor. Eastern and Nichols combined for just 4-29 from three in the first half and 7-46 by the end of the game.
 
The two teams stayed in touch throughout the majority of the second half, with neither team leading by more than 6 points until the last minute of action. Hamblin continued his dominance in the paint early on, scoring 3 layups before the under 16 timeout. Ray Carter (Springfield, MA) did most of his damage in the second, scoring 12 of his 14 points this half.
 
Flowers-Smith was more involved after the break for the Bison, scoring 14 of his own, including a crafty behind-the-back pass for an assist. As the game was entering its closing moments, a Carter layup put the Warriors up 6. Following a missed three-pointer for the Bison and another defensive rebound for Sanchez, Nichols fouled with 46 seconds to go. After the initial foul, two technical fouls were issued to Dominic Mello and his impressive afternoon was cut short, giving the Warriors 6 free throws to put themselves in control.
 
After Dao hit his 4 shots from the line, Sanchez converted on his 2 and Soltis also went 2/2 from the line just 31 seconds later, giving Eastern a 14-point lead. Nichols kept playing aggressive defense with under 10 seconds to go, but finished the game down by 9, capping off an exciting tournament.
  
The Warriors are back in action Saturday hosting Little East Conference opponent UMass Boston at 3 p.m. The game a run of Little East Conference play that will last throughout the remainder of the regular season. The Beacons of UMass Boston are 6-5 on the season, having won both of their conference matchups thus far (Keene State and Southern Maine). The Warriors are also undefeated in conference play, having defeated Western Connecticut by a score of 78-73 in their meeting earlier this month.
 
Consolation Game
Wesleyan U. 99, Penn College 44
 
Less than 24 hours after a draining double-overtime loss to Nichols College that stopped a five-game win streak,  Wesleyan (9-3) won its sixth game in a seven-game span by routing Penn College (1-11) in the consolation game, 99-44.
 
Ranked No. 23 nationally after reaching last year's NCAA Division III Final Four, the Cardinals shot 63 percent from the floor in a 59-point first half.  Wesleyan outscored the Wildcats 17-3 over four minutes to expand an early three-point lead to 17, 27-10, eight minutes into the contest.
 
Fifteen players saw time for Wesleyan, with no one playing more than half the game. Oscar Edelman, a 6-foor-8 inch sophomore, led four double-figure scorers with 18 points (all coming in ten first-half minutes on 7-of-10 FG shooting) and 6-foot-10 inch freshman Ian Plankey helped the Cardinals to a +24 advantage on the boards with a game-high 13 rebounds. Both Eldeman and Plankey came off the bench.
 
Sophomore guard Zach Wolinski scored 12 of his 13 points in the first half for Wesleyan.
 
Penn College, which shot just 24.1 percent from the floor (20 percent from distance), got 11 points from junior guard Octavio Alexander and ten off the bench from junior guard Josh Shepherd.
 
In the tournament, Edelman led the Cardinals with averages of 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds off the bench, sinking half of his 26 field goals. Wolinski averaged 17 points (matching Edelman with five three-point field goals).