Slow start hurts men's basketball in loss

DANBURY, Conn. --- Despite a double-double in scoring and rebounding from Mike Russell, the Colby College men's basketball team fell behind early and never recovered in an 87-66 loss to Western Connecticut State in non-conference play Tuesday night.

The Mules fall to 1-2 overall, while Western Connecticut moves to 4-1.

The Colonials led 27-8 about nine minutes into the first half and led 47-28 at the halftime break. Colby got as close as 12 points with back-to-back scores by Kyle Donovan to make it 58-46 with 13:33 to play. Western Connecticut, though, pulled away again and led by 20 at 70-50 with 9:25 remaining.

Russell finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists to move his career totals to 970 points and 660 boards. Christian Van Loenen added 14 points and three assists, while Donovan and Uzoma Orchingwa both had eight points.

DaQuan Brooks paced all scorers with 21 points for the Colonials.

WESTERN CONNECTICUT 87, COLBY 66

COLBY (1-2)

Christian Van Loenen 5-9 4-5 14; Mike Russell 6-14 1-4 13; Uzoma Orchingwa

3-4 2-2 8; Kyle Donovan 4-5 0-0 8; Ben Foreman 2-5 2-2 7; Eric Beaulieu 3-3

0-0 6; Ben Brassord 2-2 0-2 4; David Havlicek 1-1 0-0 3; Forrest Lovett 1-1

0-0 2; Gus David 0-0 1-2 1; Alex Swanson 0-0 0-0 0; Nick Rimsa 0-1 0-0 0;

Jonathan Kalin 0-1 0-0 0; Noah Atlas 0-0 0-0 0; Jesse Coulon 0-0 0-0 0;

Gordon Fischer 0-1 0-0 0; Burton Gildersleeve 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-48 10-17

66.

WESTERN CONNECTICUT (4-1)

DaQuan Brooks 8-15 1-2 21; Gary Robinson 7-7 0-0 17; Wilburt Jarrett 5-9 0-1

11; John Phillips 4-10 1-2 9; Rob Bentil 4-6 0-0 8; Ryan Pelletier 3-6 0-0

8; Mark Redding 2-3 0-0 4; Joseph Setaro 0-0 3-3 3; Jengodji Gates 0-1 2-2

2; Russell Payton 1-6 0-0 2; Ronnie Underwood 1-6 0-0 2; Scott Corchard 0-0

0-0 0; Taeshaun Jackson 0-0 0-0 0; David Addy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-70 7-10

87.

Colby.........................   28   38  -   66

Western Connecticut...........   47   40  -   87

3-point goals--Colby 2-5 (David Havlicek 1-1; Ben Foreman 1-3; Gordon

Fischer 0-1), Western Connecticut 10-22 (DaQuan Brooks 4-10; Gary Robinson

3-3; Ryan Pelletier 2-3; Wilburt Jarrett 1-2; Russell Payton 0-3; Ronnie

Underwood 0-1). Fouled out--Colby-None, Western Connecticut-None.

Rebounds--Colby 34 (Mike Russell 10), Western Connecticut 26 (Rob Bentil 4).

Assists--Colby 12 (Christian Van Loenen 3; Mike Russell 3), Western

Connecticut 27 (David Addy 10). Total fouls--Colby 12, Western Connecticut

12. Technical fouls--Colby-None, Western Connecticut-None. A-100