WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Senior guard Jake Collagan (Wethersfield) had 27 points, five rebounds and four assists to pace the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team to an 83-65 non-conference win over Worcester State University Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

Eastern (3-4) scored ten of the game's first 12 points and never trailed, outscoring Worcester (2-6) 27-11 over the final ten minutes of the first half after the Lancers had cut an 11-point deficit to two to open up an 18-point, 47-29 halftime lead. The Warriors shot 60.7 percent from the floor (6-of-13 from the distance) as compared to Worcester's 31.3 percent in building its 18-point halftime lead.

Collagan netted 17 of his points in the first half on 6-of-7 field goal shooting which included a pair of three-pointers. First-year junior transfer Shawn Gashi (Syracuse, NY) chipped in all eight of his game points in 15 first-half minutes. Sophomore forward Sharown Fowler (Springfield, MA) came off the bench to grab a career-high ten rebounds in 15 minutes in the game.

Eastern connected on ten of 14 field goals in its decisive 27-11 run that closed out the first half, with senior guard Jhoan Gil (East Windsor) and junior guard Cory Muckle (Westbrook) each sinking  two three-point point field goals in that stretch. Collagan had six points in the run and Gashi chipped in six points, three coming on a conventional three-point play.

 In control with its 18-point halftime lead, Eastern gave up the first seven points in the first four minutes of the second half behind junior forward Eric Bjorn and senior guard Tyler Dion to quickly climb to within 11. At that point, Eastern responded with an 11-2 run that put the game away, 58-38, with 13 minutes left. Muckle scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half. In 35 minutes, sophomore point guard Thomas Close (East Hampton) was 3-of-4 from the floor and hit both of his free throws, handed out four assists and grabbed two rebounds with just one turnover.

Eastern was outrebounded by 14 as the Lancers accumulated a +9 advanced in second-chance points.

At right: Eastern head coach Bill Geitner (right) catches up with his former four-year player, Tyler Hundley, prior to Saturday's game. A member of four 20-win seasons at Eastern, Hundley is in his second year as head coach at Worcester State.

The 6-foot-5 inch Bjorn had a double-double of 13 points and ten rebounds in the second half and finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Dion joined him with a double-double with a team-high 20 points to go along with ten rebounds. Junior guard Chris Cardosa added 14 points and eight rebounds as the Lancers' top three scorers combined for 51 of the team's total.

Worcester is coached by Tyler Hundley '13, who played two seasons under current Eastern head coach Bill Geitner. Hundley is in his second season after leading the Lancers to 11 wins in his first season -- eight more than the previous year.

Eastern hosts Yeshiva University Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. in a non-conference game.