PROVIDENCE, R.I. – There's still a long way to go, but thanks to Saturday afternoon's 73-58 Little East Conference victory over defending champion Rhode Island College at the Murray Center, Eastern Connecticut State University has moved out to a two-game lead at the halfway point of the race for the top seed in next month's conference tournament.

At right: Trachone Preston

Rhode Island (11-6, 5-2 LEC) sees its five-game winning streak come to an end and slips into a tie for second place in the Little East Conference standings with UMass Dartmouth. With its fifth straight win, Eastern (13-4, 7-0 LEC) moves two games ahead in the LEC regular-season race at the halfway point of the conference season.

Coupled with a 77-74 home win over RIC in the conference opener Dec. 7, Eastern sweeps the Anchormen in the regular-season series for the first time in 11 years and will hold the tie-breaker over RIC in the event the teams finish in a tie in the final conference standings. The Warriors hold a 5-2 record over RIC in the last seven contests between the clubs after the Anchormen had captured 14 of the previous 15.

Rhode Island's last three regular-season conference losses – its only one last year and both this year – have come at the hands of Eastern.

Sophomore guard Trachone Preston (Enfield) paced Eastern with a game-high 18 points, while senior guard Brian Salzillo (North Haven) poured in 15 points, including 12 in the second half, to go along with  four rebounds and three steals. Freshman forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) finished with a huge game for Eastern, as he tallied a double-double of 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with four assists. Salzillo connected on five three-pointers – just above his season average – and now has at  least one three-point field goal in his last 51 games. He ranks second nationally in three-pointers made per game.

Aside from the trio of Preston, Salzillo, and Lindo, senior guard Mike Garrow (Terryville) notched ten points, six rebounds, and three assists. Sophomore guard Kevin Leumene (Stamford) recorded nine points, five rebounds, and a pair of assists off the bench, while junior forward Brandon Yarborough (Stamford) totaled seven points and a season-high 11 rebounds.

Junior forward Victor Smith came off the bench for a team-high 14 points for RIC. Senior guard Nyheem Sanders  added 11 points, four assists, two rebounds, and two steals. Freshman guard Austin Cilley chipped in with nine points and a team-high five rebounds, while junior forward Chris Burton posted seven points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Freshman forward Terrance Tribble also contributed with six points, four rebounds, and two blocks for the hosts, while junior guard Eric Alleyne came away with two points, three assists, three steals, and two rebounds.

As the two teams battled back and forth throughout the first half, it was the Warriors who managed to hold a slight lead for much of the frame. In a stanza that consisted of seven ties and two lead changes, Eastern broke a 28-28 tie and pulled ahead by five for its largest lead of the half with just 32 seconds left following a three-pointer from Garrow and a layup from Yarborough. However, Sanders responded with a buzzer-beating, straightaway three-pointer to tie the game, 33-33, as time expired.

Both teams were incredibly efficient on the offensive end in the first half, as RIC shot 50 percent (15-for-30) from the field for the frame, while Eastern shot at a 48 percent (14-for-29) clip. Sanders and Smith netted 10 points apiece for RIC through the first 20 minutes, while Preston paced Eastern with nine points. 

After Salzillo opened the second half by burying a contested three-pointer, the Warriors held at least a four-point lead over the Anchormen through the first seven minutes of the frame. Smith hit a jumper to cut the deficit to just two with 12:51 on the clock, but Salzillo answered back with another trey to push Eastern's lead to five, 49-44, with 12:30 left to play.

As the two teams continued to trade baskets, a three-pointer from Yarborough upped Eastern's lead to eight, 57-49, with 8:43 remaining in the game. Preston followed with a trey moments later to give the Warriors a 10-point, 61-51, advantage at the 7:26 mark.

Although a bucket from Cilley trimmed the margin back down to eight, 61-53, with 6:46 left to play, Eastern closed out the ballgame on a 12-5 run to seal the double-digit victory over the hosts. The Warriors drained six three-pointers as a team in the second half, compared to just two treys in the first half, while went 0-for-7 from beyond the arc in the second half alone. RIC also shot at a miserable 32 percent (9-for-28) clip for the final 20 minutes and coughed up the ball nine times during that span.

For the game, the Warriors shot 46 percent (27-for-59) from the field, 33 percent (8-for-24) from beyond the arc, and 65 percent (11-for-17) from downtown.

Meanwhile, the Anchormen shot 41 percent (24-for-58) from the floor, 15 percent (2-for-13) from beyond the arc, and 57 percent (8-for-14) from the free throw line.

Eastern Connecticut out-rebounded Rhode Island College, 46-29, and corralled 16 offensive rebounds as a team.

Eastern visits Western Connecticut State University in a Little East Conference game Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The Colonials improved to 6-2 at home Saturday with an 83-75 LEC win over Southern Maine. Western is fourth in the conference, three games behind Eastern.