The Colonials, 11-2 and 4-2 in the Little East Conference, trailed 12-8 at the 14:31 mark of the first half before senior guard Greg Cole (Terrytown, NY) caught fire.
Cole canned the first of four three pointers to cut WestConn’s deficit to one point, 12-11 14 second later and started his own comeback. He would go on to score 16 points by intermission and lift the Colonials to a four-point advantage, 39-35 at the break. He finished with 21 points on the night.
Eastern Connecticut battled the rest of the way and actually tied the game for the sixth time, 51-51 with 10:58 remaining in the game on two free throws by Shiwon Davis (Stratford, CT). Davis finished with 12 points for the Warriors.
Western pulled away from there and built a 17-point lead on two occasions over the final 2:47.
Senior forward Brice Assie (Bridgeport, CT), who was named Little East Conference Player of the Week earlier in the day, had game-highs of 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Colonials.
Jay Reginatto (Torrington, CT) added 12 points and had seven assists for WestConn.
Jeroy Smith (New Haven, CT) led four Eastern Connecticut players in double figures with 18 points. He finished shooting eight of 11 after connecting on all six of his field goal attempts in the first half.
Michael Stallings (Waterbury, CT) added 17 points for the Warriors, now 5-9 overall and 2-4 in the league.