WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Junior forward Jalen Hamblin's (West Hartford) inside bucket off a pass from junior guard Dominick Dao (Terryville) provided Eastern Connecticut State University with the 18th and final lead change of the game with a minute left and the Warriors went on to a 72-66 non-conference men's basketball win over Dean College Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
While Eastern (13-8) shot just 35 percent from the floor, the Warriors were their most productive over the final seven minutes, when they were 7-of-11 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the foul line with only one turnover in scoring the final seven points of the game.
In pushing its home record over .500 (5-4) for the first time since winning its own Holiday Invitational in late December, Eastern snapped a two-game losing streak and completes its non-conference season with a perfect 9-0 record. The loss is the fourth straight for Dean, which had beaten Eastern by seven points a year ago at Pieri Gymnasium.
After senior guard Greg Farrow sank his team's only three-point field goal of the game (in ten tries) and pushed Dean into a four-point lead, Eastern outscored the Bulldogs 18-6 over the final five minutes.
Sophomore guard Cedrick Similien (Norwich) canned both of this three-point field goals in the game in a span of two minutes after Farrow's three-pointer, and sophomore guard Elijah Jean-Guillaume (New Haven) sank the last of his three three-point baskets from distance to break the 17th and final tie with 2:36 left.
Hamblin's layup off Dao's seventh assist of the game gave Eastern the lead for good, 67-66, with just over a minute left, and Dean missed two shots and turned the ball over twice on its final four possession. Dao, who missed his first nine shots of the game, converted a jumper to make it 69-66 and Jean-Guillaume sank one free throw after grabbing a defensive rebounds with 20.6 seconds left to give Eastern a four-point edge, and Similien iced it with another pair at the line with 7.6 remaining.
Making his first start of the season (second of his career), Jean-Guillaume poured in a career-high 24 points – 15 in the first half that kept the Warriors close and trailing by only two at the break. Guillaume was 10-of-20 from the floor with five rebounds and no turnovers in 37 minutes. Dao totalled 12 of his 14 points in the second half and contributed ten rebounds (his first double-double since the fourth game of the year) to go along with his seven assists in 40 minutes. Similien added 17 points – 13 in the second half coming on 4-of-5 field goals (2-of-2 from distance) and 3-of-3 free throws.
For Eastern, Hamblin had eight points and four rebounds, senior forward Sheriff Bilewu (Waterbury) eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and in 23 minutes off the bench, sophomore forward Julian Sanchez (Willimantic) added nine points, five rebounds and five steals.
It was in the areas of free throw shooting and turnovers where the Warriors excelled. Shooting at 68.3 percent from the stripe this year, Eastern canned 17-of-19 for a season-high 89.5 percentage, including 15 of 17 in the second half. Dao was 7-of-8 in the game and Hamblin 4-of-4. Averaging 16.3 turnovers a game, Eastern commited only 12 miscues (four in the second half) that led to only nine Dean points (three in the second half).
Junior guard Billy Ray Barnes led Dean with 18 points on 9-of-11 field goal shooting and also had five rebounds, four assists and three steals to go along with seven turnovers. Sophomore guard Frankie Idlett had 13 points and ten rebounds and senior guard Ja'maine Davenport chipped in 11 points and four rebounds.
Eastern closes out the regular season with four Little East Conference games beginning Wednesday at home against Keene State College before the top six conference finishers qualify for the LEC tournament which begins with two first-round games Feb. 25. Eastern (4-8 LEC) is currently in seventh place in the conference, a half-game behind the University of Southern Maine (5-8), which holds the tie-breaker after sweeping Eastern in the regular season. The Huskies dropped a 79-73 home decision to Western Connecticut Saturday afternoon.