Danbury, Conn.-Freshman guard Chris Farrington (Fall River, MA) scored a game-high 22 points and added five rebounds to lead the Rhode Island College men's basketball team to an 85-75 victory against at Western Connecticut in a Little East Conference contest played at Feldman Arena on Wednesday evening.

Junior guard Roosevelt Shider (Meriden, CT) added 20 points and six rebounds for RIC (11-12, 5-8 LEC). Junior forward Malcolm Smith (Old Orchard Beach, ME) had a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds in the win.

Sophomore forward Jauch Green (Hartford, CT) paced Western Connecticut with a double-double, scoring 21 points with 13 rebounds. Junior guard Bobby Bynum (New Haven, CT) added 15 points in the loss for the Colonials.

RIC had control of the action early and grabbed a 23-15 lead on a jumper by Farrington with 11:15 left in the first half. The Anchormen's first double digit advantage came when a pair of free throws from Smith made the score 29-19 with just over eight minutes left in the opening stanza. RIC then took the 44-34 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

The Anchormen pushed the lead to as many as 16 points early in the second half before Western Connecticut made a run, cutting the advantage down to just three points when a layup from Green with 6:03 on the clock made the score 64-61. That would be as close as the Colonials would get, however, as RIC converted seven free throws in the final two minutes of play en route to the 85-75 victory.

RIC shot 40.3 percent (27-of-67) from the field, 45.8 percent (11-for-24) from behind the three-point stripe and 66.7 percent (20-of-30) from the free throw line. Western Connecticut shot 39.2 percent (29-of-72) from the field, 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from three-point land and 57.9 percent (11-for-19) from the free throw line.

 In upcoming action, Rhode Island College will continue Little East Conference action at Keene State in the regular season finale on Saturday, Feb. 18 (3 p.m.).