NEW LONDON, Conn.—  Connecticut College learned what most followers of the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team already knew – that stopping senior three-point specialist Brian Salzillo (North Haven) would not necessarily stop the Warriors.

At right: Trachone Preston unloads one of his four first-half three-point field goals.

With Conn's defense allowing Salzillo only a handful of touches in the first half,  sophomore point guard Trachone Preston (Enfield) filled the void, stepping in to drop four three-pointers of his own in a span of  only five minutes, and, incredibly, scoring the team's first 14 points in a 69-45 non-conference victory over the Camels at the Charles Luce Field House.

Eastern (5-1) was sluggish out of the gate, missing its first five shots and spotting Conn (1-2)  the first four points, but it was a failure to capitalize from the floor which ultimately cost the Camels in their bid to end a four-game skid at the hands of the Warriors.

While Conn couldn't convert from either inside the paint or on high-percentage shots from the perimeter, Preston got the Warriors in gear. Preston's first four field goals all came from beyond the arc. His second one pulled Eastern even in the first five minutes and his third one on a pass from Salzillo made sure the Warriors would not trail again. His fourth one eight minutes into action gave the Warriors the lead for good.

Salzillo, ranked second nationally with an average of 6.2 three-point field goals made per game, was limited to three attempts – all misses – from behind the arc in the first half. But Preston matched Conn's entire total of 16 first-half points – and chipped in six rebounds and three assists for good measure – to boost Eastern to a 16-point, 32-16 halftime lead.

With the outcome virtually assured, Salzillo quickly extended his streak of consecutive three-point games to 41 by sinking his first try in the opening seconds of the second half and added his team-leading 33^rd three-pointer of the year with just under three minutes left that expanded the Eastern lead to 21, 63-42.

Preston and senior forward Mike Garrow (Terryville) shared game-high scoring honors with 22 each. Garrow grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and handed out a team-high seven assists. Freshman forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) came off the bench to grab eight rebounds in 22 minutes.

As a team, Eastern nailed seven of 11 three-pointers in the second half, finishing withi 12 to move its season average to just over nine three-point field goals per game.

Conn senior Matt Vadas and Zuri Pavlin both contributed with double-doubles, but the hosts managed a paltry 16.0 percent shooting mark in the first half (1-for-10 from three) and piled up 16 turnovers in the game. Pavlin had ten points and 14 boards while Vadas added ten points and ten rebounds.

The victory caps a run of four road victories in as many tries since the Warriors split two games in their own tip-off tournament earlier this month. Eastern hosts SUNY at New Paltz Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in a non-conference game before hosting Rhode Island College in its Little East Conference opener Dec. 7 at 3 p.m.   -30-