NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College men's basketball team finished on the short end of a 61-60 final against Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday night in a non-conference match-up at Luce Field House.

In a tightly-contested game in which neither team led by more than five points, the Warriors escaped with the win thanks to a defensive stop by Jalen Hamblin in the final seconds. He came up with a huge block in the paint to protect the one-point lead, and Eastern took over possession and ran out the final seconds.

Julian Sanchez paced the Warriors with a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds. Hamblin finished with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds to go with two swats.

Cam Schainfeld (Newton, Mass.) scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the second half to lead three Camels in double digits. Elias Espinosa (Leonia, N.J.) tacked on 14 points and two assists while Dylan Watson (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) chipped in 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

The Warriors led 27-25 at intermission after limiting the Camels to 25-percent shooting in the first half. Conn kept it close by forcing 10 turnovers in the stanza, and Matt Leaver (Norwell, Mass.) and RJ Casey (Nashville, Tenn.) each supplied five points off the bench to stoke the offense.

The Camels played from behind for most of the second half. A three-pointer by Espinosa finally evened the score at 53-53 with 4:43 to go, and neither side led by more than one the rest of the way.

Schainfeld took over for the Camels down the stretch, accounting for Conn's final nine points of the night with a series of drives to the hoop. He finished on three of his attempts and got fouled on two others, and his free throw with 1:37 to go tied the game at 60-60.

Hamblin split a pair of freebies with 1:19 remaining to put Eastern back on top for good. In the final minute, Conn missed on a go-ahead three from the corner, as well as the final possession on which Hamblin delivered the game-saving block.

Conn (2-3 overall) will next host Roger Williams University on Sunday, December 1 at 2:00 p.m.