Little East Conference scoring leader Greg Cole scored 15 points in the second half to help carry the Western Connecticut State University men’s basketball team to an 83-68 conference victory over Eastern Connecticut State University Tuesday night at Feldman Arena.
With the loss, Eastern (9-15, 3-10 little east) remains in a tie for last place in the conference with the University of Southern Maine, which was beaten by conference co-leader UMass Boston Thursday night., 67-62. With the win -- the Colonials’ sixth straight over Eastern -- defending conference playoff champion Western (13-11, 5-8 little east) avoids sharing the conference basement. The loss is Eastern’s ninth in ten games this year on its opponent’s home court.
Western took the lead for good in the opening minutes of the game, held a eight-point, 37-29 lead at halftime by took a 13-point lead into the final four minutes of the game. At that point, Eastern sophomore guard Daniel DeJesus converted a three-point play to begin a run of seven straight Eastern points – junior guard Geoffrey Richardson also sinking four of four free throw around a steal by DeJesue -- that cut the gap to six, 69-63, with two minutes left. Cole then completed his own three-point play to put the lead back to nine and Western was 7-for-7 from the free-throw line the rest of the way to preserve the lead.
In two wins over Eastern this year, Western has canned 41 of 53 free throws.
Cole led all scorers with 23 points, Jamie Procino (17) and Dashon Jennings (12) adding double figures off the bench. Cole and Procino combined to shoot 17-for-20 from the foul line while Jennings handed out a game-high six assists. Jason Barnett added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Richardson finished with 19 points, DeJesus coming off the bench for a career-high 14 points in 19 minutes. He did not miss a shot in the game, going 5-for-5 from the floor, 3-for-3 from three-point range and 1-for-1 from the stripe. Sophomore center Kevin Zalucki posted his first double-double in 15 games, finishing with ten points and ten rebounds.
Eastern closes out the regular season Saturday at 3 p.m. with a Little East Conference game at Plymouth State University. The Warriors will open the conference playoffs with a road game Tuesday.