WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Over the course of the season, freshman  Tarchee Brown (Rockville) has made himself the overriding favorite for Rookie-of-the-Year honors in the Little East Conference.

After torching Keene State College for 23 points in the second half Wednesday night and leading the Warriors to a come-from-behind victory, the 6-foot-3 inch guard probably garnered himself a few votes for Player-of-the-Year recognition, as well.

Senior forward Brandon Yarborough's (Stamford) only field goal of the game came with 33 seconds left and gave the men's basketball team a four-point lead on the way to an 82-76 win over Keene in front of 1,200 fans at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium that moved the team to within a win Saturday of the LEC regular-season title.

Conference-leader Eastern (18-4, 10-1 LEC) – ranked fourth in the first NCAA regional poll released today -- trailed by 14 with seven minutes left in the first half and 12 at the break before bouncing back to open the second half with a 12-5 run that pulled them back into contention and trailing by five, 49-44. A six-point run later in the half finally got the Warriors even at 54-54 and Eastern finally took its first lead of the second half, 61-59, on a driving layup and free throw by Brown midway through the half.

Eastern's win – its eighth in the last nine games with Keene – coupled with UMass Dartmouth's 79-75 road loss to UMass Boston – moves the Warriors two games ahead of UMass Dartmouth with three games remaining in the regular season. An Eastern win over UMass Dartmouth Saturday ensures Eastern's third regular-season title in four years and the No. 1 tournament seed.

After sophomore forward Jaquel Edwards' conventional three-point play with 12 minutes left in the game, the Owls went scoreless from the field for six minutes, leading to a 13-1 Eastern run as the Warriors moved out to an 11-point, 71-60 lead with nine minutes left.

Keene battled back to within one on sophomore forward Matt Ozzella's two free throws with a minute left before the 6-foot-4 inch Yarborough – inserted into the lineup a minute earlier -- nailed a three-point field goal from the top of the key – his only basket -- with 33 seconds left that made it 78-74. Eastern was just good enough from the stripe in the final seconds, converting two of four free throws to hang on.

Brown took over the game in the second half, scoring 23 of his game-high total of 25 points over the final 20 minutes and finishing the game with 11 rebounds and five assists. Sophomore forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) had 17 points and a game-high 14 rebounds and freshman guard Collin Jordan (Cheshire) – making his first career start in place of injured junior guard Trachone Preston (Enfield) – had a career-high 17 points and added five assists and four steals in 37 minutes.

Plagued by foul trouble in the second half, Keene senior guard Tom Doyle still tossed in 21 points, with Ozzella matching that point total as well as Doyle's rebound total of six, with sophomore forward Jeff Lynn coming off the bench  for 16 points.

Eastern visits UMass Dartmouth Saturday at 3 p.m