WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – After a career night by junior forward Quinton Lott (Bridgeport) led the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team to a statement win against Connecticut College on Sunday, it was sophomore guard Max Lee's (Norwich) turn to have a career performance as the Warriors returned to action for the third game of their homestand in Geissler Gymnasium and first of Little East Conference play against UMass Boston on Saturday. Facing a double-digit deficit in the first half, a career-high 12 first half points for Lee helped the Warriors (5-3, 1-0 LEC) carry momentum into the second half to earn the 76-70 win over the Beacons (3-3, 0-1 LEC) on Saturday.
After a Quinton Lott layup to start it off, UMass Boston would use an 13-3 run to take a six-point lead in the first six minutes led by six points from first-year guard Stephen DiGregorio and five points from senior guard Charles Mitchell to take an eight-point lead in the early going. DiGregorio and Charles Mitchell would combine for 19 points through the first 11 ½ minutes of play to help lead the Beacons to a 10-point lead, 25-15. UMass Boston would lead by as many as 12 after senior guard Charlie Mitchell's layup with 8:18 to go in the first half before the Warriors came alive.
It started with junior forward Rakesh Tibby (East Hartford) hitting a pair of free throws to pull Eastern within 10 points. Defense would become the name of the game for the Warriors as senior guard Tyreice Woods (Hartford) stole the ball from sophomore guard Bobby Joy leading to a two-point basket by Max Lee on the other end. The next Beacon possession resulted in a block by senior guard Cory Muckle (Westbrook) which eventually gave way to another steal by Woods although Eastern would not convert on the opportunity following the turnover, another run got underway shortly after a made free throw by first-year forward Ike Eluwa extended the UMass Boston lead back up to nine.
This time senior guard Thomas Close (East Hampton) kicked off the Warrior's 6-0 run with a jumper before another steal by Woods led to an and-one opportunity by Lee who converted the free throw and one of two free throws on a subsequent foul 32 seconds later to pull Eastern within three, 28-25. Lee would continue his strong end to the second half as he would score a total of eight consecutive points for the Warriors dating back to the and-one opportunity off the steal to make it a one-point game. Woods would send the game into a tie at 32 with his three-pointer, the first time in which the game was even since two all at the 19:12 mark of the first half.
Tied at 34 all heading into halftime, Eastern was led by Lee's 12 points, two assists, and two rebounds with Tyreice Woods close behind scoring nine points while helping out on the defensive end with four steals and a block. After coming out of the gate quickly, the duo of DiGregorio and Charles Mitchell were held to just two points over the final 8 ½ minutes of the first half to head into the locker room with 21 of UMass Boston's 34 points.
Eastern would reclaim the lead for the first time since 2-0 with 19:39 left in the first half and never look back when a turnover by junior forward Malik Lorquet led to a three-pointer by Woods to put the Warriors ahead 37-34. This would be the beginning of a 9-0 run to start the second half for Eastern as Muckle and Lee each hit their three-point attempts to give the Warriors a nine-point lead and a 3-for-3 start to the half from long range. Charles Mitchell started a 5-0 run for the Beacons to help get them back to within five and a short while later a pair of free throws by DiGregorio and Charles Mitchell saw the duo come alive again to cut Eastern's lead down to two, 45-43.
The turning point of the half would come following a layup by Lee to push the lead back to four and towards the end of the shot clock on the subsequent possession a foul by Charlie Mitchell resulted in three free throws for Cory Muckle who hit all three shot attempts to put the Warriors ahead by seven. The closest UMass Boston would get is within three with 10:53 remaining in regulation after a pair of free throws from first-year guard Emanuel Zayas. At that point, Eastern would begin a 12-0 run over the next five minutes to open a 15-point lead, their largest of the afternoon against the Beacons. It started with five straight points from Close who had eight points during the run while Lee and Muckle supplied the other four points as the Warriors went up 65-50.
UMass Boston would respond again with a 7-0 run as Charles Mitchell recorded four points and Zayas had three to bring Eastern's lead back to single digits with 3:51 left in regulation. Charles Mitchell would knock down a pair of three pointers around three baskets from the Warriors to help keep the deficit at eight with 1:24 remaining. Moments later, Charles Mitchell would miss what would end up being two pivotal free throws for the Beacons after being fouled behind the three-point line before converting on two free throws a few seconds later that cut Eastern's lead down to five, 71-66.
In the closing 20 seconds, the Warriors would go 5-for-6 from the free throw line as Woods made 3-of-4 attempts and Close converted on both of his free throw attempts to help the Warriors stave off the late push from UMass Boston and snap a two-game losing streak against the Beacons with the 76-70 victory to open Little East Conference play.
Charles Mitchell paced UMass Boston with 33 points, including 21 second half points on 11-of-22 shooting while making six of his 12 three-point attempts.
Max Lee finished the day with a career high 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go along with five rebounds and three assists while Tyreice Woods followed close behind with 17 points (5-for-12 shooting, 4-for-7 from three), four steals, four assists, four rebounds, and three pivotal free throws in the closing moments of the game.
Eastern will finish their four-game homestand on Wednesday, December 8th in a Little East Conference matchup against UMass Dartmouth in Geissler Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM. The two teams split their weekend home and home games during the shortened 2020-2021 season with the Warriors losing by 18 points on the road, 90-72 after making a 20-point comeback with eight minutes left in which a game-winning three pointer by Max Lee in overtime at home gave Eastern an 85-83 win the day before.