THE BASICS
Score: Eastern Connecticut State 87, Dean College 64
Records: Dean College (0-1), Eastern Connecticut State (1-0)
Location: Harrington Auditorium, Worcester, Mass.
Date: November 17, 2017
Time: 7:45 PM

THE LEAD
Eastern Connecticut State looked every bit the part of a team returning several key pieces from a squad that advanced to the NCAA Second Round a season ago. The Warriors forced 25 Dean College turnovers and ECSU posted an 87-64 win over the Bulldogs in the opening round of the Ted Coghlin Tournament hosted by WPI.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Warriors, who won the Little East Conference Tournament a season ago, took the lead early and never looked back pushing their advantage to as many as 28 in the early stages of the second half.

To the Cardinal and White's credit, they trimmed the lead down to 11 as Randolf Thurman (Swampscott, Mass.), Malik Brown (Miami, Fla.) and Jordan Booker (Waterbury, Conn.) all connected on three-pointers. When Dayvon Russell (Naugatuck, Conn.) knocked down yet another triple, the Bulldogs were down just 70-59.

As quickly as the Bulldogs trimmed that deficit, the Warriors pushed it back courtesy of a Tarchee Brown layup and a pair of Jake Collagan jumpers. When the dust cleared after both teams exchanged runs, Eastern Connecticut went back up by 21 following a pair of Carlos Gonzalez free throws with three minutes left to play.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Warriors enjoyed cushions of 40-19 in the paint, 26-13 off turnovers and 18-6 in second chance points. There was only a two-point margin in bench points (34-32) and a three tally difference in fast break points (8-5).

Thurman led the Cardinal and White with 16 points off the bench, while Armani Baker (Pawtucket, R.I.) ended with ten points on nine bench. Brown was a true spark off the bench, providing toughness that led to him finish one rebound shy of a double-double (11 points, nine rebounds).

UP NEXT
ECSU (1-0) meets host WPI tomorrow at 3:00 PM in the title game while Dean (0-1) takes on Maine-Farmington at 1:00 PM in the consolation.