Eastern (2-1) trailed by as many as 14 points late in the first half and by eight with 5:32 left. With the game tied, 64-64, Eastern went the length of the court and Stallings sank a bucket from the left side of the key for what proved to be the winning points. Trinity (2-1) inbounded after two timeouts but the inbound pass to midcourt was grabbed by Eastern junior Geoffrey Richardson as time expired.
Trailing by eight, 58-50 with 5:32 left, Eastern outscored the Bantams 16-6 the rest of the way, getting points from six different players. Stallings scored the team’s final five points, hitting a bucket to give Eastern a 63-62 lead with 62 seconds left and converting the second of a two-shot foul 32 seconds later to make it 64-62. Stallings’ points on those two possessions were set up by defensive rebounds from 6-foot-7 inch sophomore center Kevin Zalucki.
After Stallings made it 64-62, the Bantams missed three tries at the hoop on their next possession, but freshman guard Paul Rowe was eventually fouled and swished a pair of free throws to tie the game at 64-all with 14 seconds left. After inbounding, the Warriors got the ball to Stallings, who drove the lane and canned a short jumper from the left side with 1.7 seconds left for the winning basket.
For Trinity, junior guard Patrick Martin and 6-foot-6 inch senior forward Tyler Rhoten fouled out 1:18 apart late in the game with their team holding three-point leads. Martin left with 3:19 remaining and Rhoten followed with 2:11 left. Rhoten, a pre-season Division III All-America and MVP of his team’s tournament win last weekend at Lancaster, PA, was held without a field goal (one point) after scoring ten points in the first half and helping the Bantams to a 34-26 halftime edge.
(Junior guard Kino Clarke scored more than half of Trinity’s points, finishing with a game-high 33 on 11-for-19 field goal shooting and 4-for-4 shooting from the stripe. He was 7-for-13 from three-point range. However, only Rhoten joined him in double figures.
For Eastern, junior guard Matt Albon scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the second half, helping the Warriors to a 56.0 field goal percentage over the final 20 minutes. Junior forward Leon Martin added 14 points, sinking six of six free throws in the second half. Zalucki led all players with 11 rebounds, Albon grabbing seven, Martin six and first-year junior forward Eric Johnson five.
Starting point guard Shiwon Davis was limited to just four minutes. Davis, named to the Eastern Tip-Off Tournament All-Tournament team this past weekend, did not start the game due to back spasms. He started the second half, but left after only four minutes after twisting his left ankle.
The win is only the fifth in the 18-game series for Eastern, which lost 83-63 a year ago. The Warriors finished 8-16 last year, Trinity 19-7.
Eastern faces nationally-ranked University of Rochester Saturday at 8 p.m. in the opening round of the University of Rochester Holiday Inn Tournament.
-