(Courtesy of Eastern Connecticut Sports Information)
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - Sophomore center Jeremy Thompson (Berlin, CT) and junior guard Courtney Simmons (Middletown, CT) came off the bench to score 28 points on 12-for-17 shooting from the floor to vault the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team to a 75-67 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology in a non-conference game Thursday night at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
Eastern (11-3) took over the momentum for good early in the second half with a 6-0 run when senior guard Edwin Ortiz (Hartford, Conn.) converted a four-point play on a three-point field goal and free throw and Simmons hit the first of five field goals over the next ten minutes upon entering the game to give Eastern a seven-point, 44-37 lead. The lead never dipped below four after that, peaking at 12, 63-51when Simmons sank the back end of a two-shot foul with three minutes left.
With its sixth home win in seven outings, Eastern is off to its best overall start after 14 games since the 1985-86 season, when the Warriors finished 18-9 and qualified for the ECAC tournament. Wentworth (5-8) has alternated wins and losses over its last seven games.
Thompson dropped in seven of his eight shots in the game and finished with 17 points. The 6-foot-5 inch, 215-pounder is 19-for-25 in his last four games. Thompson came off the bench to equal his career high of 20 points in Tuesday's Little East Conference road win over UMass Dartmouth. Simmons had missed the last two games with a finger injury before spelling Ortiz with Eastern leading by five minutes into the second half. He canned five of nine shots on a variety of drives to the baskets and mid-range jumpers and finished with 11 points.
Eastern scored its final 13 points of the game from the foul line on 17 tries over the final three minutes. Ortiz led all players with 21 points (his second straight game of at least 20). Nine of his points came on ten free throw attempts (he is now 32-for-36 from the line this year). Ortiz was 6-for-6 from the stripe in the final minute of play.
The Warriors' final basket of the game came with just over three minutes left and expanded Eastern's lead to 11, 62-51. Wentworth missed a jumper and as 6-foot-11 inch Wentworth forward Sam Herrick (Duxbury, MA) was reaching for the offensive rebound, the ball was knocked away by Eastern sophomore guard Jamie Kohn (Columbia). Kohn lunged for the ball as it was heading out of bounds and batted it to sophomore guard Nick Nedwick (Irvington, NY), who found junior forward Bill Roveto (South Windsor, CT) ahead of the field for an uncontested layup.
In the first meeting between the teams in nine years, Wentworth got balanced scoring in the early moments of the game to move out to an eight-point, 12-4 lead. The Warriors held the Leopards scoreless from the floor over three minutes, however, getting buckets by Kohn, freshman guard Mike Garrow (Terryville, CT) and Ortiz to get back into the game, pulling to within one with nine minutes left in the first half.
Shooting .671 percent from the foul line this year, Eastern was 16-for-20 in the game. Conversely, Wentworth struggled from the line, making just 9 of 20 shots.
Nedwick contributed nine points and five rebounds and Kohn led the Warriors with eight caroms.
Herrick reached his season averages with a team-high 13 points and game-high 11 rebounds. Senior guard Jack Barrett (Reading, MA) had ten points and five rebounds and senior forward Shane West (Saco, ME) ten points and four rebounds. Senior forward Matt Abbott (Falmouth, MA) had nine points and six rebounds.
Both teams resume conference play on Saturday. Eastern hosts the University of Southern Maine in a Little East conference game at 3 p.m., while Wentworth is at Roger Williams at that same time.
