Arlington, Va.-Senior forward Chris Burton (New Rochelle, NY) notched a double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Rhode Island College men's basketball team topped SUNY Brockport in the opening round of the Pablo Coto Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Marymount University in Arlington, VA on Saturday afternoon.

The victory over Brockport (0-1) marks the first victory for the Anchormen (1-0) under new Head Coach Michael Byrnes. RIC advances to face tournament host Marymount tomorrow afternoon in the Championship Game (3:30 p.m.).

The Anchormen fell behind by eight early when sophomore guard Clifton Lyerly (Inwood, NY) notched two free throws to put the Golden Eagles up, 17-9, with 10:40 left in the first half. Brockport held the lead until RIC senior forward Patrick Matthews (Waipahu, HI) scored a layup off a feed from senior guard Eric Alleyne (Watertown, MA) to put the Anchormen on top, 18-17. RIC would close the first half on a 14-11 run to take the 32-28 lead into halftime.

The Anchormen shot 40.7 percent (11-for-27) from the field in the first half, while the Golden Eagles shot 42.9 percent (9-for-21). Sophomore guard Aaron White (North Tonawanda, NY) and junior center Daniel Aiello (Syracuse, NY) led Brockport with seven points, while Matthews notched 10 points and six boards for the Anchormen.

The second half began with both team trading buckets until a layup by Matthews with 13:36 remaining in the stanza pushed the RIC lead to seven, 43-36. The Anchormen used a 14-8 run over the next seven minutes, capped by a layup by freshman Roosevelt Shider (Meriden, CT) with 6:40 remaining in the game, to push the RIC lead to a game-high 13 points, 57-44.

The Golden Eagles were led by Lyerly's 21 points, three rebounds and two steals, while Aiello chipped in with 10 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the charity stripe.

Burton's double-double (21 points, 13 rebounds) paced RIC. Matthews looked strong in his debut with 16 points and nine boards. Alleyne did it all for the Anchormen, scoring 11 points, recording a team-high five assists and shot 90 percent (9-for-10) from the free throw line.

For the game, RIC shot 23-for-47 (48.9 percent) from the field, 4-for-15 (26.7 percent) from downtown and 22-for-36 (61.1 percent) from the free throw line.

Brockport shot 20-for-53 (37.7 percent) from the field, 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) from three-point land and 17-for-27 (63 percent) from the charity stripe. RIC outrebounded Brockport, 43-26.