Tournament Bracket

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University advanced to the Final Four round of the Little East Conference men's basketball tournament for the fifth straight year, subduing stubborn No. 8 seed Massachusetts Boston, 61-55, in the first round Tuesday night at Francis E. Geissler Gymasium.

Eastern (21-5) will host the tournament semifinals and final for the second time in three years this weekend at Geissler Gym.  The Warriors host No. 4 Western Connecticut State University (17-8) Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the first of two semifinal games, and defending champion and second-seeded Rhode Island College (18-8) meets No. 3 Massachusetts Dartmouth (16-10) at 7:30 p.m.   The tournament final is scheduled Saturday at 5 p.m.

Tuesday, Western eliminated No. 5 Plymouth State, 61-60, Rhode Island downed No. 7 University of Southern Maine, 74-66, and UMass Dartmouth defeated No. 6 Keene State College, 81-68.

A winner of six straight and 13 of 14, Eastern trailed by 11 points with eight minutes left in the first half before tying the game at 21-21 at the half.  The Warriors finally took the lead for good, 33-31, when senior guard Brian Salzillo (North Haven) sank one of his three three-point field goals with 12 minutes left in the game. The Warriors got the lead to double figures, 51-41,  with four minutes left in the game when sophomore guard Trachone Preston (Enfield) nailed his fourth and final three-point field goal of the game.

After averaging 76 points and winning by an average of 17 points in sweeping UMass Boston during the season en route to a perfect 14-0 conference mark, the Warriors struggled throughout Tuesday night. The Warriors shot 36 percent in the first half before recovering to shoot 50 percent in the second. Eastern did not get to the foul line in the first half, but canned 14 of 18 tries in the second half.

Three Eastern starters managed a combined total of just four points over the first 20 minutes. Scoreless in the first half, senior forward Mike Garrow (Terryville) answered with all ten of his points and seven of his ten rebounds after the break. Salzillo scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half and the Warriors outrebounded the Beacons, 21-9 over the final 20 minutes.

Salzillo came off the bench for a game-high 19 points, Preston following with 18 points. Garrow posted his eighth double-double of the year with ten points and ten rebounds and freshman forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) totaled a game-high 13 rebounds.

Preston scored ten of Eastern's 21 first-half points and Lindo snagged six rebounds to spark the Warriors' climb back from 11 points down in the opening half. The point guard scored seven of his first-half points in the final six minutes.  Salzillo cut the margin to three points with 2:26 left with a three-point field goal and after UMass Boston missed on three straight trips down the floor, Preston pulled Eastern even with a three-pointer with 22 seconds left before intermission.

Little East scoring leader Carl Joseph managed only nine points on 4-of-12 shooting. He pulled down seven rebounds, as did junior guard Luc Ulysse.  Freshman forward Sam Freeman came off the bench for 11 points.