NEW LONDON, Conn.— The Connecticut College men's basketball team led from start to end, but needed to withstand a late Eastern Connecticut State University surge that carried it to within three points in the final minutes as the Camels held on for a 62-56 non-conference win Sunday afternoon at the Charles Luce Field House.
Looking to end a four-game losing streak at the hands of Eastern (2-4) and extend its season win streak to five, Conn (5-1) survived after the Warriors ran off nine straight points over two minutes to slice a 12-point deficit to three, 59-56, with just under two minutes left.
Following a Conn timeout at that point, the teams combined to miss five consecutive shots – Eastern blowing a reverse layup with 75 seconds left that would have made it a one-point game – before Conn sealed the win by sinking three of four free throws in one-and-one situations in the final 14 seconds.
Sophomore guard Benjamin Toussaint (Bellmore, NY) came off the bench to provide some late life with 11 second-half minutes, completing a conventional three-point play with a free throw with 1:52 left that pulled the Warriors to within three, 59-56.
Toussaint then grabbed the rebound of a Conn miss on the Camels' next possession, but the Warriors failed to click on their final four shots – two coming on hurried three-pointers in the final 5.5 seconds – in dropping to 0-3 on the road this year.
Trying to preserve its three-point lead, Conn inbounded 94 feet away from its basket with 19 seconds left. After Eastern knocked the inbounds pass out of bounds with its pressure defense, the Camels inbounded again with 17.6 seconds left and was able to advance the ball over halfcourt, forcing the Warriors to commit a foul to avoid giving up an easy breakaway layup. Sophomore guard Cam Schainfeld followed by converting his only free throw attempts of the game, making it 61-56 with 13.7 seconds left and all but securing the win for Conn.
Eastern did not score from the floor for the first six minutes of the game but trailed only by two when senior guard Tyreice Woods (Hartford) canned a corner three-pointer. Trailing by only three with three minutes left in the first half, Eastern was outscored 13-6 the rest of the half and trailed by ten, 35-25, at halftime.
Down by 12 with 3:47 left in the game, Eastern recorded three straight three-point plays to score nine unanswered points. Woods and first-year guard Dominick Dao (Terryville) buried three-point field goals off passes from Toussaint and senior guard Max Lee (Norwich), respectively, around a Conn turnover to make it 59-53 and after the Camels turned the ball over for the 11th time in the half, Toussaint scored off senior forward Rakesh Tibby's (East Hartford)'s inside pass to make it 59-56 with just under two minutes left.
Playing the game without its leading scorer, Eastern got 16 points from Woods and 13 (ten in the second half) from Dao, the duo combining to go 5-of-10 from distance. Tibby (7 points, 7 rebounds in 19 minutes) and Toussaint (5 points, 3 rebounds) provided all of Eastern's points off the bench. Lee had four points, four rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes.
Senior guard Thomas Close (East Hampton) returned to action after missing the last two games with injury. Close had one assist in ten minutes.
Eastern hosts Farmingdale State College Wednesday at 7 p.m. before opening its Little East Conference season Saturday at 3 p.m. at University of Massachusetts Boston.