Salem State Men’s Basketball
Men’s Basketball
35th Eastern Tip-Off Tournament
First Round
Eastern Conn. 87, The Sage Colleges 70
Middlebury College 82, Salem State U. 55
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men’s basketball team led from start to finish and Middlebury College took the lead for good three minutes into action in their respective opening-round wins of the 35th Eastern Tip-Off Tournament Friday night at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium. Eastern led by as many as 25 en route to an 87-70 victory over The Sage Colleges (1-1), while Middlebury built a 21-point halftime lead and cruised to an 82-55 victory over Salem State University (1-1).
Eastern (1-1) moves into the tournament final for the 31st time, facing Middlebury (1-0) Saturday at 3 p.m. The Sage Colleges meets Salem at 1 p.m. in the third-place contest. The Warriors are the defending tournament champions and chase their tenth crown. Middlebury is making its tip-off tournament debut.
First-year junior transfer guard Kendall Marquez (Willimantic) sank a game-high 26 points in 26 minutes off the bench to lead four double-digit Eastern scorers, connecting on 8-of-12 field goals and all six of his free throws. Marquez was one of the top scorers at Western Connecticut for two years before sitting out last season.
Senior forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and blocked three shots to go along with eight points for the Warriors, who limited the Gators to 31.3 field goal shooting and forced 22 turnovers.
Senior forward Marcus Patterson (Bronx, NY) converted 14 of 15 free throws and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for Sage, facing Eastern for the first time.
The teams combined to sink 44 free throws on 51 fouls in the game.
Middlebury, coming off last year’s NCAA Division III tournament appearance, got a game-high 22 points (10-of-13 field goals), six rebounds and three blocks from sophomore forward Zach Baines (Stamford), and a game-high 11 rebounds (all defensive) to go along with nine points, six assists and five steals from junior guard Jack Daly (Scarsdale, NY) in denying four-time tip-off champion Salem State from its first title game appearance.
he Panthers shot just under 60 percent in building a 21-point, 46-25 lead, finishing with a 51.4 mark from the floor and holding the Vikings to 29.6 field goal shooting.
Senior forward Marcus Faison (Cambridge, MA) led Salem with 17 points but was the only Salem player in double figures. Sophomore forward Tyreik McCauley (Worcester, MA) led Salem with nine rebounds.
Salem State Women’s Hockey
SALEM – Margret Troiano (Morristown, NY) scored two goals and added an assist as SUNY-Canton spoiled Salem State’s home opener, 5-1 in Colonial Hockey Conference action at Rockett Arena on Friday evening. The Roos improve to 3-2 and 1-2 in conference while the Vikings slip to 0-3 and remain winless in league play.
SUNY-Canton earned three power play opportunities in the first period, but it was Salem State’s Jaqueline Sindoris (Charlestown, MA) who had the best scoring chance when she intercepted a pass at center ice and nearly converted the shorthanded attempt, but she was stopped point blank by Roos goalie Brooke Susac (Bowmanville, ON).
SUNY-Canton broke the deadlock four minutes into the second when Tess Adams (Calgary, AB) beat Salem State goalie Sarah Plourde (Hookset, N.H.) stickside with a shot from just in front of the face-off circle. Ally Webster (Hanson, MA) nearly scored the equalizer for the Vikings as her shot crossed the crease before hitting the outer post. Noelle Niemiec (Staten Island, NY) increased the Roos’s lead to 2-0 with a power play goal on an assist from Tessa Dobson (Moose Factory, ON).
The Vikings picked up the offense towards the end of the period as Amanda Giles (Merrimack, NH) fired a shot that was initially saved by Susac, but Salem State could not poke home the rebound as the puck lied in front of the open net.
Troiano extended SUNY-Canton’s lead in the third when she stuffed home a rebound after Alyssa Hein’s (Regina, SK) shot hit the post. Troiano then added a shorthanded goal two minute later after making a nifty move around a Salem State defender before beating Plourde with a backhand.
Danielle Kelly (Charlestown, MA) broke the shutout when she rifled one past Susac far post that made the score 4-1. Mariah McCue (Belleville, ON) iced the game with 19 second s left for the Roos making the final 5-1.
Susac made 14 saves in the victory while Plourde stopped 37 shots in the loss. SUNY-Canton went 2-for-9 on the power play while the Vikings went 0-5.
Salem State and SUNY-Canto will face off again tomorrow afternoon at Rockett Arena at 5:00 PM.
