WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Offense sells tickets, but defense wins games.

That axiom was never truer than Wednesday night, when the Eastern Connecticut State University duo of sophomore Cade Ensinger (Deep River) and senior Tyreice Woods (Hartford) held Plymouth State University senior scoring leader Dante Rivera  to one field goal through the first 39 minutes and to seven total points as the Warriors posted an 80-66 victory over the Panthers in a Little East Conference men's basketball game at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

Eastern (8-4, 3-1 LEC) never trailed in the game – scoring nine straight points early in the game to race to a 14-4 lead – to avenge a 78-73 loss to Plymouth (7-5, 2-2 LEC) three weeks ago at Foley Gymnasium. The Warriors improved to 7-1 at home.

Rivera, who has scored 996 points in his Plymouth career, had torched Eastern for 22 points in the Panthers earlier win over Eastern. Wednesday, Ensinger and Woods took turns shadowing him and forced him into 2-of-14 shooting from the floor (1-of-7 from distance). Rivera, however, did contribute six steals and three assists in 38 minutes.

Proving that there is something to be said for offense, Woods complemented his stellar defense by tying his career-high with a game-high 21 points to pace four double-figure scorers. He was 8-of-15 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from distance. Woods, the team's third-leading scorer has led the team in points in three of the last four games, including 18 in the loss at Plymouth.

Plymouth played without sophomore guard Kyler Bosse, the LEC's leader in field goal percentage (66.0) who missed his first game of the year. Bosse was 12-of-15 from the floor en route to a game-high 26 points in the win over Eastern at Plymouth.

For their part, Eastern was strengthened by two players who were not available in the loss to Plymouth: junior point guard Jalen Williams (Simsbury) and junior transfer guard Meikyle Murray (Bronx, NY). Williams had dropped in 17 points in his debut this year in a home win over Bowdoin College last week and followed with 16 in a starting role against Plymouth on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor. Williams also canned two of the team's nine three-points and had four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 27 minutes.

In 22 minutes off the bench, Murray had eight points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals and only one turnover. Both Williams and Murray were playing in their second games this season.

Sophomore guard Max Lee (Norwich) finished five assists shy of his second triple-double this year. He had 15 points and tied his career-high with 11 rebounds and did not miss a shot (6-of-6 from the floor, 2-of-2 from the line).

With recent injuries to starting junior forward Quinton Lott (Bridgeport) limiting him to 12 minutes against Plymouth, 6-foot-7 inch junior Rakesh Tibby (East Hartford) continued to play a valuable role inside. Tibby tied his season high with 12 points (5-of-11 from the floor, 2-of-2 from the stripe), grabbed five rebounds and blocked a shot in 28 minutes.

After moving out to a 12-point lead in the first half, the Warriors needed a strong second half to pull away from a five-point halftime lead. In the second half, the Warriors outrebounded the Panthers by eight and connected on 9-of-12 free throws. Lee had eight points, seven rebounds and three assists in playing all 20 minutes in the half.

Senior forward Devin Cooper led Plymouth with 14 points while junior guard Giorgi Tsiklauri  added 13 points, the pair combining to shoot 10-of-17 from the floor.  Senior forward Manny Alisandro, also absent in the win over Eastern last month, had nine points and seven rebounds in 29 starting minutes.

Eastern hosts Castleton University in a conference game Saturday at 2 p.m.