WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Rhode Island College scored 16 points off Eastern Connecticut State University turnovers in the first half but only four in the second as the Warriors downed the Anchormen, 77-74, in the Little East Conference men's basketball opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

At right: Hugh Lindo grabbed 16 rebounds off the bench against the taller Anchormen. (Photo by Liam Murphy)

In a battle of the last two conference tournament champions and teams ranked 1-2 (Rhode Island-Eastern) in the coaches' pre-season poll, Eastern (7-1, 1-0 LEC) came from ten points back seven minutes into the second half  to defeat the Anchormen for the third time in the last four meetings and post its sixth straight win.  Rhode Island (4-4, 0-1 LEC) has won five of the last seven LEC tournament championships.

Junior forward Brandon Yarborough's (Stamford) free throw capped an 18-9 Eastern run over six minuts that pulled the Warriors even at 61-all and freshman forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) put the Warriors ahead for good, 65-64, with four minutes left on an inside hoop on a perimeter pass from senior forward Mike Garrow (Terryville). That  capped a run of eight straight points.

After Lindo's hoop, sophomore guard Trachone Preston (Enfield) and Garrow each sank two free throws around an RIC turnover to give the Warriors their largest lead, 69-64, with 2:10 left. Sophomore guard Kevin Leumene (Stamford)  connected on two bonus free throws with 23.1 seconds left to make it 73-70. Eastern's final six points came from the foul line as the Warriors converted 27 of 34 tries in the game from the stripe.

Rhode Island's fullcourt press forced Eastern into ten first-half turnovers that translated into 16 Anchormen points. The visitors held the upper hand throughout most of the first half, leading by as many as six twice before Preston dropped in two free throws with 44 seconds left in the half to pull the Warriors even, 39-39, at the break.

Rhode Island outscored Eastern 12-2 through the first five minutes of the second half to open up a ten-point, 51-41 lead before Eastern chipped away, finally evening the contest at 61-all on Yarborough's free throw. The Warriors held the visitors from making a field goal for six minutes to climb back into contention.

Garrow scored all 11 of his points in the second half to finish as one of three Eastern double-figure scorers. Senior guard Brian Salzillo (North Haven), ranked among the national leaders in three-point field goals, canned six three-pointers on 12 tries (3-for-3 in the second half, all in a span of two minutes) and was 6-for-7 from the stripe to lead Eastern with 24 points, with Preston scoring 22 and grabbing seven rebounds and handing out four assists. He has averaged 20.1 points over the last three games.

Lindo led all players with 16 rebounds in 33 minutes off the bench to go along with two blocks to help the Warriors outrebound the taller Anchormen by 15. Preston was 6-for-6 from the foul line, Salzillo 6-for-7, Garrow 5-for-6, Yarborough 6-for-8 and  Leumene 4-for-5.

Nyheem Sanders of RIC led all players with 26 points, Tom DeCiantis grabing nine rebounds before fouling out with  9.2 seconds left. Sanders scored half of his points in the first half when Rhode Island shot 51.7 percent from the floor in taking charge. The Anchormen were just 37.0 percent from the field in the second half, however.