Willimantic, Conn.-The Rhode Island College men's basketball team suffered an 86-62 setback against Eastern Connecticut in a Little East Conference contest played Geissler Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Senior forward Domonique Bull (Worcester, MA) paced RIC (9-10, 3-6 LEC) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Benjamin Vezele (Providence, RI) recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Eastern Connecticut (14-6, 8-1 LEC) was led by junior guard Kendall Marquez (Willimantic, CT) with 18 points off the bench, while senior center David Canny (Torrington, CT) had 17 points and seven boards in the victory. Senior forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield, CT) notched a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Warriors.

Both teams struggled offensively in the early going with the score tied, 8-8, with 12:38 left in the first half. Eastern Connecticut then went on an 11-1 run, capped by a three-pointer from Marquez to take a 19-9 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the stanza. The Warriors pushed the lead to as many as 16 points late in the half before taking the 41-26 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

RIC chipped away at the lead through the second half and pulled to within six on a layup from junior guard Jovel Beckford (Providence, RI), making the score 59-53 with 9:14 left in the contest.  That would be as close as the Anchormen would get, however, as ECSU used a 13-2 run over the next three minutes to push the lead back to 72-55 on a layup by Lindo with 6:19 remaining. The Warriors then cruised to the 86-62 victory.

RIC shot 28.6 percent (20-of-70) from the field, 11.8 percent (2-for-17) from behind the three-point stripe and 71.4 percent (20-of-28) from the free throw line. Eastern Connecticut shot 42.5 percent (31-of-73) from the field, 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from three-point land and 65.0 percent (13-for-20) from the free throw line.

In upcoming action, Rhode Island College will host Amherst on Tuesday, Jan. 31 (7 p.m.).