Eastern Connecticut guard dies during game against Worcester

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Antwoine Key was coming into his own this season.

The senior guard for Eastern Connecticut had one career game in the bag and seemed well on his way to another Thursday at Worcester State. He had five of the Warriors’ first seven points in the opening minutes and was jogging upcourt when he collapsed.

Efforts to revive him were in vain. The 22-year-old team leader and popular student died a short time later at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Mass.

On Friday, the close-knit campus struggled to cope with a heartbreaking void. Grief counselors were on hand and the athletic staff, preparing for the start of classes Monday, wept as they tried to get through the day.

“He was probably one of the best student-athletes I’ve ever met in terms of personality and work ethic,” athletic director Joyce Wong said.

A sports and leisure management major, the lanky kid with an ever-present grin was a fixture in the halls of the ECSU Sports Center, where he had part-time job with the department.

“He enjoyed what he was doing. He was happy,” Wong said. “He never complained.”

An autopsy was to be performed late Friday or early today to determine cause of death. School officials said Key passed his preseason physical.

Both the men and women team’s have canceled home games today against Southern Maine.