WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team built a 17-point lead seven minutes into the second half and withstood a Wesleyan University comeback bid by sinking all ten of its free throws over the final 51 seconds to win the ECSU Holiday Invitational with an 87-79 victory Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

Wesleyan (8-3) had rung up 109 points while shooting 58 percent from the floor in a 26-point win over Saint Joseph's College (ME) in Friday's first round,  but was limited to just 31 percent shooting in the first half Saturday. In the first half, Wesleyan equalled its Friday total of nine turnovers and trailed by seven.

The Cardinals never led by more than two points and Eastern (3-9) took the lead for good in the early going on a three-pointer by 6-foot-7 inch tournament MVP Jalen Hamblin (West Hartford) just six minutes into play.

Leading by seven at the break, the Warriors turned to their bench to move out to a 17-point lead seven minutes into the second half. In a 23-12 run that pushed the advantage to 56-39, Eastern was 10-of-12 from the floor – connecting on six consecutive shots.

Coming off the bench in that run, first-year player Pedro Perry (New London) sank a pair of three-pointers, and first-year player Jeremiah Graham (Jacksonville, FL) contributed a hoop. Also contributing a big second half off the bench was all-tournament selection Ty Calloway (Enfield), a first-year junior transfer. In 11 second-half minutes, Calloway scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds and spearheaded Eastern's 18-of-22 marksmanship from the foul line in the second half. Calloway was 3-of-4 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the stripe in the second half.

After missing all four of his first-half shots, sophomore Dominick Dao (Terryville) got the half going with an inside basket and followed with his only three-point field goal of the game. Senior Cade Ensinger (Deep River) was 3-for-3 from the floor in that second half.

Implementing a pressing defense, Wesleyan pulled to within six points with two minutes left, but Graham and Calloway were both 4-of-4 from the line in the final 51 seconds, with Hamblin also converting both of his tries.

While Eastern enjoyed its second-highest point total of the season thanks to a season-high 19 free-throws and season-best 55.6 percent perfect it was its defense which paved the way to the team's second tournament win which followed a seven-game losing streak.

 Shane Regan, Wesleyan's season scoring leader, was held to just 11 points (two field goals) after torching Saint Joseph's for 29 points on 12-of-16 field goals and 5-of-8 shooting from distance.  Coming off a 20-point, 12-rebound effort on Friday, 6-foot-9 inch Jared Langs managed only four points and one rebound in 17 minutes against Eastern. Langs sat the entire first half after being whistled for two fouls in the first two minutes.

Hamblin led six Eastern double-digit scorers with 22 points and helped Eastern to a +4 advantage on the boards with a team-high six.  Hamblin was 7-of-8 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the stripe. Calloway had 18 points (8-of-9 FT) and seven rebounds in 20 minutes, Perry 13 points (three three-pointers), Ensinger 11 (all in the second half) on 5-of-6 shooting and Graham ten points.

Nicky Johnson led Wesleyan with 20 points, while all-tournament selection Jackson Cormier had 19 points. The pair was 15-of-32 from the floor, with Johnson scoring 17 of his points in 18 second-half minutes. Regan, also named to the all-tournament team, had a game-high eight rebounds to go along with his 11 points.

In two tournament games, Hamblin had 34 points and 17 rebounds on 11-of-17 field goal shooting and 10-of-13 shooting from the foul line.  Calloway added 30 points and seven steals. He was 10-of-19 from the field and 10-of-11 from the foul line. In the tournament, Eastern was 33-of-44 from the stripe and shot an even 50 percent from the floor.

Consolation Game
Saint Joseph's College, ME 89, SUNY Poly 74

Behind 25 points and 11 rebounds from all-tournament selection Remijo Wani, Saint Joseph's (4-8)  led from start to finish and withstood a second-half rally by SUNY Poly (6-7) that trimmed a 20-point lead to six midway through the second half.

Trailing by 20 points, the Wildcats scored 14 consecutive points in less than three minutes to pull to within six, 71-65, with nine minutes left before the Monks returned the favor with a 16-point scoring spurt of their own to move out to a 22-point lead with three minutes left.

Wani, who led four double-figure scorers also had seven assists and was 5-of-6 from the foul line.  Ashtyn Abbott and John Paul Frazier each added 16 points for the Monks on 12-of-18 shooting from the floor. Wani Donato added 13 points and seven rebounds for Saint Joseph's.

All-tournament pick Anthony Rose of SUNY led all players with 27 points and matched Wani with 11 rebounds, with Cheickne Toure adding 19 points.

Eastern Connecticut State University

Men's Basketball Holiday Invitational

Tournament Results

Friday, Dec. 29

First Round

Eastern Conn. 75, SUNY Poly 71

Wesleyan U. 109, Saint Joseph's College, ME 83

Saturday, Dec. 30

Consolation Game
Saint Joseph's College, ME 89, SUNY Poly 74

Championship Game

Eastern Conn. 87, Wesleyan U. 79

All-Tournament Team

Jalen Hamblin*                   So.          Eastern Conn.                                      West Hartford

Ty Calloway                         Jr.            Eastern Conn.                                       Enfield

Jackson Cormier                  So.          Wesleyan U.                                         Houston, TX

Shane Regan                        Jr.            Wesleyan U.                                         Larchmont, NY

Anthony Rose                      So.          SUNY Poly                                           Bronx, NY

Remijo Wani                        Fr.           Saint Joseph's College, ME               Portland, ME

*-Most Outstanding Player