Box Score DANBURY, Conn. – Junior guard Kevin Leumene (Stamford) scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, carrying the No. 25 Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team to its 10th win in its last 11 games, 70-60 over Western Connecticut State University in Little East Conference action Tuesday night at Feldman Arena.
Now 31-1 in its last 32 conference games, regular-season conference champion Eastern (20-4, 12-1 LEC) posted its sixth straight season of at least 20 wins by sweeping Western (14-10, 6-7 LEC) in the regular-season series for the third straight year.
Leumene, mired in a 7-for-33 shooting slump over the previous four games, was 7-of-14 from the field, but scored ten of his game-high total on perfect free throw shooting to power the Warriors to a +12-point advantage at the foul line. Eastern was 17-of-22, Western 5-of-6 from the stripe Tuesday (Eastern was 24-of-31, Western 9-of-16 in the Warriors' 82-68 victory Jan. 29 at Geissler Gym).
Sophomore forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) – the LEC rebounding leader with an 11.0 average -- had 14 points, 19 rebounds, four assists and four steals for Eastern, giving him 30 points and 35 rebounds this season against Western. Freshman guard Tarchee Brown (Rockville) added 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals and senior forward Brandon Yarborough (Stamford) contributed 13 points. Freshman point guard Collin Jordan (Cheshire) pulled down a career-high eight rebounds.
Although there were 13 lead changes in the first half, Eastern took firm control in the opening minutes of the second half by riding a 24-4 scoring binge that included a run of 17 straight points over a stretch of 3:39. The Colonials went more than four minutes between buckets in that run, which Brown ignited with his only three-point field goal of the game after the teams combined to miss their first five shots of the half.
Leumene produced half of the team's points in the 24-4 run, converting three straight hoops in a span of 68 seconds, and later completing a rare four-point play by nailing his only three-point field goal while being fouled by Kendall Marquez, and canning the free throw.
Ranked second in the LEC in field goal defense, Eastern forced Western into 29.7 percent shooting from the floor in the second half, and led by Lindo (10) and Brown (6) outrebounded the Colonials by ten over the final 20 minutes.
Eastern's starters accounted for all of the team's points. Western's substitutes outscored Eastern's two reserves 29-0, but the Colonial starters were outdueled by Eastern, 70-26.
Eastern hosts the University of Southern Maine in the regular-season and conference finale Saturday at 3 p.m. before hosting the No. 8 seed (either Southern Maine or Plymouth State University) in an LEC tournament first-round game Tuesday night. Plymouth is the only LEC team to defeat Eastern over the last two seasons.
