WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Ranked second in the Little East Conference in scoring defense, the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team held Rhode Island College 17 points under its season average and put together a decisive 16-0 run in the second half to post an 80-69 victory Monday evening at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
With its fifth straight win – its longest streak since mid-January of 2019 – Eastern (11-4, 6-1 LEC) moves two games ahead of Rhode Island (10-3, 3-2 LEC) in the Little East. Keene State College (5-0 LEC) remained unbeaten in the conference by rallying from five points down at halftime for an 81-80 road victory over Western Connecticut. RIC had won five of its last six but had been idle for nearly a month prior to Monday's game.
Sparked by senior Thomas Close's (East Hampton) suffocating defense on RIC senior guard Keyshaun Jacobs, Eastern never trailed in the game and expanded a two-point halftime lead to as many as 20 with four-and-a-half minutes left in the game on the way to its eighth straight home win and ninth in ten contests at Geissler Gym. Close limited the touches of Jacobs – ranked second in the LEC with a 25-point scoring average. Jacobs managed only three shots from the floor, scoring all four of his points from the foul line, the first coming with 6:39 left and his team trailing by 18.
Playing his fourth game in an Eastern uniform, 6-foot-3 junior transfer Meikyle Murray (Bronx, NY) led both teams in scoring (31) and rebounding (11) and also handed our six assists and blocked two shots in 33 minutes. Murray, who sank 12-of-18 field goals and 5-of-7 free throws, was one of three Eastern players in the decisive second half with 12 points. Over the final 20 minutes, he also grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists.
The Warriors scored the first 11 points in the opening four minutes and led by 13 with six minutes left in the half before the Anchormen inched back, cutting the gap to two on sophomore Jordan Riley's dunk with just over a minute left in the half that capped a brief 6-0 run.
With the margin still at two points four minutes into the second half, Eastern went on a five-minute rampage that netted it 16 straight points and put the game away, 63-45, with 11 minutes left. Junior guard Tyreice Woods (Hartford) led the charge by scoring nine of his 12 second-half points in that stretch on two inside baskets, two free throws and a three-pointer that capped the 16-point run.
Woods followed Murray with 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two blocks, 6-foot-7 inch Rakesh Tibby (East Hartford) adding 13 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 2:10 left and Close contributing 12 points – all in the second half. Junior point guard Max Lee (Norwich) took only three shots but chipped in eight rebounds, eight assists and eight steals in 40 minutes.
Riley led RIC with 20 points, with junior guard Shion Darby, averaging an LEC-leading 25.5 points per game, scoring 18 with four assists and 6-foot-5 inch sophomore forward Ousmane Kourouma adding 12 points and nine rebounds and sophomore guard Damian Tucker (Boynton Beach, FL) coming off the bench for seven points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes.
Eastern visits Massachusetts Boston Saturday at 3 p.m. in an LEC contest.