WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Outmuscled and out-rebounded by a more experienced Connecticut College men's basketball team, Eastern Connecticut State University made a game of it in the first half before the Camels outscored the hosts by 19 points over the first eight minutes of the second en route to a 72-55 non-conference victory Sunday evening at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
Against a team which featured seven players standing 6-foot-5 inches or taller, Eastern's (1-5) depth was no match for Conn's (4-1) starting five, which scored all but four of its points and grabbed 25 of its 32 rebounds.
With 6-foot-7 inch, 245 pound senior David Murray and 6-foot-8 inch, 200 pound Ben Rice having their way inside, the Camels scored well over half (40) of their points in the paint and owned a +9 advantage on the boards. The duo was 11-of-17 from the floor and each grabbed ten rebounds. Murray led all players with 19 points and had three of his team's blocked shots, Rice tacking on nine points.
Conn had won its first three games on the road by an average of 11 points before sustaining a 16-point home loss Tuesday to nationally-ranked Keene State College, like Eastern, a member of the Little East Conference. Eastern has lost three straight, its first two losses in the stretch by a total of only seven points.
With 22nd-year head coach Bill Geitner substituting freely, nine players saw time off the bench against the Camels and that group outscored seven Conn reserves by a 25-4 count.
Coming off the bench for only the second time this year after four starts, junior transfer guard Ty Calloway (Enfield) equalled his career-high with 14 points on 5-of-8 field goals (2-of-2 from distance) and added three rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes.
Sophomore guard Dominick Dao (Terryville) matched Calloway with 14 points and added four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Dao was 5-of-7 from the floor, with four of his baskets coming on six three-point tries. Sophomore forward Jalen Hamblin (West Hartford), the team's tallest player at 6-foot-7 inches, had ten points and five rebounds. With four points in three previous games this year, sophomore guard Aden Goffe (New Haven) added seven points and three rebounds in 11 minutes off the bench.
Eastern visits Dean College Wednesday at 5 p.m. before opening its Little East season Saturday by hosting the University of Massachusetts Boston at 1 p.m.