WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team shook free from early lethargy by scoring 13 consecutive points midway through the first half on the way to a 77-53 non-conference victory over SUNY New Paltz Tuesday night at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

At right: Kevin Leumene drives past Andrew Joseph in the first half Tuesday.

Senior guard Mike Garrow  (Terryville) sparked the decisive 13-0 spurt by scoring the final eight in that run, punctuated by a dunk with six minutes left in the firs that pushed the lead to 15, 29-16, with just over five minutes left in the first half.

After the lead swelled to 20 two minutes before halftime, the remainder of the game was a formality.  Even though Eastern began substituting liberally in the final minutes of the first half, the Warriors led by as many as 30 with eight minutes to go. Thirteen players saw time in the second half, with sophomore forward Matthew Sterner (Plymouth) collecting this first points of the year with a pair of field goals, and freshman forward Alex Borofsky  (Southington) the first point of his career with a free throw.

Garrow, who eclipsed 900 career points in the contest,  recorded all 12 of his points in the first half on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor in helping the Warriors shoot 51.7 percent from the field in the game on the way to their fifth straight victory, both this year and in the all-time series against New Paltz (2-4).  Eastern sophomore guard Trachone Preston (Enfield) led all scorers with 18 points (7-of-11 from the floor) in 24 mnutes, and also handed out six assists. Junior forward Brandon Yarborough (Stamford) added ten points (4-for-4 from the floor) and six rebounds in 26 minutes and Garrow added six caroms to complement his dozen points in 25 minutes. Sophomore guard Kevin Leumene (Stamford) had nine points  and six rebounds.

Senior guard Brian Salzillo (North Haven)  connected on his first three-point field goal attempt eight minutes into the game to extend his personal streak to 42 games. It was the only three-pointer in four tries for Salzillo, who entered the week ranked second nationally in Division III three-point field goals (33) and tied for second in three-pointers per game (5.50). He leads New England in both categories.

Playing without top scorer Taylor Sowah (14.4 ppg./51.0 FG pct.) for the first time this year, the Hawks dropped their fourth in a row. Andrew Seniuk  shared team-high scoring honors with teammate R.J. Rosa, making his first start of the season. Both had 16 points, with Andrew Joseph pulling down ten rebounds.

Eastern opens Little East Conference play Saturday, hosting Rhode Island College at 4 p.m. The defending LEC champion Anchormen are ranked No. 1 in the LEC coaches' pre-season poll, the Warriors second. -30-