PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Top-seeded Western Connecticut State University and third-seeded Keene State College will play for the 2026 Little East Conference (LEC) Men's Basketball Championship title after winning their respective semifinal games Friday night. This will mark the fourth consecitive meeting between the two programs in the tournament final, with the Wolves looking to dethrown the four-time defending LEC champions. WestConn will host this year's title game Sunday at 1 p.m.

No. 1 Western Connecticut 60, No. 5 Eastern Connecticut 59 (OT)
By Western Connecticut Athletics

Senior guard Jahlyl Morgan (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) had 10 points, nine rebounds, and three steals, including the go-ahead jumper in overtime, to lead the Western Connecticut State University Wolves to a 60-59 win over the visiting Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors in the semifinal round of the Little East Conference (LEC) Men's Basketball Championship Tournament this evening at Feldman Arena.  WestConn improves to 20-6 with its third victory in a row and will host the Keene State College Owls in the LEC Championship Finals on Sunday with the winner of that game earning an automatic bid to the 2025-26 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.  The Warriors see their season end at 17-10.

With the game knotted at 54-all after two 20-minute halves, WestConn senior guard Tayejon Lynch (Cambria Heights, N.Y.) opened the overtime with a layup that was quickly answered with two free throws by Eastern Connecticut's Julian Santiago.  Morgan followed with the jumper and classmate Nick Boyce (Jamaica, N.Y.) made two free throws to give the Wolves a 58-54 lead with 1:45 on the clock.  WestConn took a 60-56 lead on two more from the foul line by junior guard Elijah Jean-Guillaume (New Haven, Conn.) with five seconds left but Santiago made it seven points in the overtime with a quick trey for the visitors with one tick left.  Lynch missed a pair from the charity stripe but the Warriors were only able to get off desperation heave before the horn sounded.

In the first half, WestConn had jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the opening 2:42 including four points by Boyce.  Eastern Connecticut fought back and took a 15-14 lead midway through the first stanza on a jumper by Dominick Dao.  Dao added a three-pointer to give the Warriors their biggest lead of the first frame at 27-20 with 4:36 on the clock.  The Wolves closed the half with an 8-2 run, including two buckets by sophomore center Marcel Henry (Yonkers, N.Y.), and trailed, 29-28, at the break. 

WestConn came out strong in the second half and led, 38-32, at the 15:40 mark after a trey by Lynch.  Jean-Guillaume and Sanchez traded three-pointers moments later and the game stayed close over a long stretch until Lynch made a pair of free throws to give the home team a 48-43 with 6:35 left in regulation.  The visitors came back again and took a 50-49 lead on a long ball by Pedro Perry at the 3:34 mark and led, 52-50, after a Perry jumper from the wing.  Boyce tied the game at 52-52 with a layup from Lynch and blocked an Eastern Connecticut shot on the ensuing possession.  Lynch and Dao made steals in the final minute, as Boyce's bucket at the 2:01 mark were the last points of the second half.

Boyce and Jean-Guillaume paced WestConn in scoring with 12 points apiece, while Lynch notched nine points, eight rebounds, five assists, and two blocks, and Henry finished with eight points and eight boards.  Santiago came off the Eastern Connecticut bench to score a game-high 20 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.  Dao finished with 12 points and five rebounds and Drew Soltis pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked three shots.  WestConn outrebounded Eastern Connecticut, 50-41.

No. 3 Keene State 75, No. 2 UMass Boston 72
By Keene State Athletics

One month and three days ago, the University of Massachusetts-Boston went 39-of-50 at the foul line and defeated the Keene State College men's basketball team 93-80 at the Clark Athletic Center to sweep the season series for the first time ever.  The defeat dropped the Owls to just 9-9 and 6-4 in the conference.  Eight wins and just one loss later, KSC will now play for the Little East Conference championship – again.  Cooper poured in 26 points on another efficient effort, making 10-of-19 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range, while sophomore Franklin Pierce University transfer Kareem Porter added 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 16 rebounds, and two critical free throws late as the Owls downed the University of Massachusetts-Boston 75-72 to end the Beacons' season Friday night in the conference tournament semifinals at the Clark Athletic Center.

Keene State, now 17-10, will advance to take on a familiar opponent once again – Western Connecticut State University – on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in Danbury as the Owls look to win a remarkable fifth consecutive Little East Conference championship.  The top-seeded Wolves, who have lost in the title game at Spaulding Gymnasium in each of the past three years, punched their ticket back again with a gritty, grimy 60-59 overtime win over No. 6 seeded Eastern Connecticut State University at Feldman Arena tonight.  KSC is 8-2 against WestConn (20-6) in the postseason but has only played one postseason game in Danbury all-time, a semifinal loss to Plymouth State University in 2002.  Sunday, on that same court, the Owls – winners of 11 straight LEC tournament games – will look to extend their historic run in the league.

If Jordan Cooper has anything to say about it, the Owls would seem to have a good chance.  The North Carolina native who transferred to KSC this season as a junior has saved some of his best efforts for the right time: 30 points in a comeback home win over WestConn February 14.  A 38-point masterpiece Wednesday night against RIC in the quarterfinals to get the Owls to tonight.  And tonight, a 26-point effort that included two critical baskets late that kept KSC in front, including a layup with 1:48 left that made it 69-66.  He had help again tonight in different forms, including from senior Mitch Shettles, who put back a critical bucket with 1:18 to go to make it a three-point game again after UMass-Boston had again gotten within one on two Davon Sanders free throws.  KSC had a pair of possessions with a chance to extend that advantage but could not, and two Raphel Laurent free throws with 21 seconds to go made it 71-70.  But the Owls made all the plays they needed to from there, including Porter – the big man whose father played for KSC in the early 2000s – sinking two gigantic free throws (after not attempting one in his previous three games) a tick later after he was intentionally fouled when he got the ball.  KSC let Laurent go in the paint for a layup with nine seconds left, forcing Shettles to then make a pair from the line with eight to go – and he did.  The sped-up Beacons then were unable to get a shot off and the Owls' length proved to be a factor, with Sanders turning the ball over and Wainaina picking it off as the seconds ticked away.

Porter was a menace to the Beacons all night, helping KSC to a dominant 54-37 edge on the boards.  The Owls had 24 offensive rebounds, with 10 coming from Porter, as part of his career-high matching 16 boards overall.  It helped offset what was otherwise a spotty effort from the field (35 percent) for KSC, who had to win with defense and rebounding.  But as they have done before – including a 63-59 road win over Sunday's title game opponent – they proved they can.  Laurent scored a game-high 36 points on 11-of-22 shooting, but the rest of the Beacons were limited to just a 13-for-41 effort (32 percent) from the field.  KSC outscored UMB 38-30 in the paint, 20-13 on second chances, and 19-11 on fastbreaks.

The Owls led 40-35 at halftime and were in front for nearly in the entire second half, including 56-47 after Porter's three-point play.  Cooper's layup with 8:14 left still had KSC up 62-55, but Laurent answered with a big three 13 seconds later and the Beacons surged in front by one (64-63) with 3:48 on the clock as the Owls scored just one point in nearly five minutes.  KSC, though, turned to one of their steady hands on their lone possession of the half when they trailed, as Leo Chaikin put them back in front with a layup 25 seconds later.  Two misses and a turnover for the Beacons led to a Cooper layup with 2:30 to go and a 67-64 edge, and KSC held on to win the nail-biter.

"Credit to UMass-Boston on a great season," said Owls head coach Steve Enright, who has helped KSC advance to the title game in both of his seasons.  "They have two Player of the Year type guys and a third in Sanders who should be an All-LEC selection.  Our guys were galvanized after seeing UMB celebrating in the regular season wins and came into tonight with a chip on their shoulder.  We were a little sloppy finishing around the rim most of the night but made the winning plays when it counted.  Kareem stepped up in a big way and we rode our four seniors and Cooper down the stretch and they answered the bell.  On to a very good WestConn team."

KSC is 8-2 against WestConn all-time in the LEC tournament, where they improved to 43-20 all-time.  The Owls will be making their 18th appearance in the league championship in 29 seasons, including 11 appearances in the last 12 years.  They will be aiming for their ninth championship when March, aptly, kicks off in two days.