NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College men's basketball team extended its winning streak with an 81-63 victory over Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday night. The New London neighbors rivalry was played at Conn College's Luce's Field House.

The Camels, who improved to 6-1 on the season, netted a season-high 11 three-pointers to earn their third-straight win against the Bears. Conn's winning streak now stands as its longest since the 2007-08 season.

Conn College's RJ Casey (Nashville, Tenn.) and David Murray (Jackson Heights, N.Y.) turned in big performances in the win, the former from the outside and the latter in the paint. Casey buried five three-pointers en route to a game- and season-high 21 points and tossed in a pair of assists. Murray contributed 20 points on 9-for-10 shooting and tacked on five rebounds and five blocks.

Cameron Brown (Ellicott City, Md.) came off the bench to lead Coast Guard with 21 points and nine rebounds. Mitch Shettles (New Albany, Miss.) and Trevor Parks (Oldsmar, Fla.) also finished with 12 points apiece as the Bears dipped to 1-5 overall.

The Camels set the tone in the opening minute of the contest, as Murray hammered a dunk on the first possession of the game. A Coast Guard turnover then led to a fast break layup for Jarron Flynn (Roslindale, Mass.), and Conn was off to a 4-0 start.

Back-to-back triples by Casey and Caelin Peters (Hamilton, Bermuda) brought Conn's lead to double digits midway through the stanza. The Camels later stretched the margin to 19 thanks to a 7-0 spurt that included lay ups by Peters and Murray and a three from Ben Rice (Hanson, Mass.).

Conn shot 47 percent for the half and led 38-21 at the break. Casey splashed four treys in the stanza and led all scorers with 12 points at intermission.

In the second half, the Camels picked up where they left off on the offensive end, scoring 10 points in four minutes to build the lead to 25. Murray supplied a pair of dunks in the stretch, which left the hosts with a 48-23 lead at the 15:57 mark.  

Conn led 53-31 following a three-pointer by Cam Schainfeld (Newton, Mass.) with 13:39 to go and looked poised to cruise to the finish. However, the Bears clawed their way back into the game behind 14 unanswered points over the next three minutes. Shettles erupted for nine points during the comeback while Brown added five, including a three-point play that cut the deficit to 53-45 with 10:16 left.

That would be as close as Coast Guard would get, as Billy Whelan (Hamilton, Mass.) knocked down a big three to settle the Camels and bump the lead back to double digits. In the final five minutes of the contest, Murray netted nine points—including a thunderous dunk down the lane—to bring Conn to the finish line.

The Camels shot 49 percent for the game and recorded 20 assists on 33 field goals. 

Coast Guard returns to action at home, playing their service academy rival, Merchant Marine, on Saturday, December 3 at 2:00 p.m.