Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. -- Three days after needing a late-game surge to defeat the University of Southern Maine iin the regular-season finale, the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team raced to a 20-point lead nine minutes into action and rolled up an 80-39 victory in the opening round of the Little East Conference tournament at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium Tuesday night.
With its 12th win in its last 13 games, top-seeded Eastern (22-4) advances in the tournament and will host the semifinals and final Friday and Saturday at Geissler Gym. Eastern will No. 4 Keene State College (18-8), which edged No. 5 Western Connecticut State University, 101-99, Tuesday at Keene, NH. In the other semifinal Friday, No. 2 Rhode Island College faces No. 3 Massachusetts Dartmouth. The Anchormen have won six of the last eight tournament championships.
No. 8 Southern Maine finishes 5-21.
The men's tournament will be held in conjunction with the women's tournament at Eastern. Game times are scheduled for 1, 3, 6 and 8 Friday, but the exact order of games has not been announced. The times for the men's and women's championship games Saturday have also not yet been announced.
Sophomore guard Hugh Lindo (Enfield) had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Eastern, which turned the ball over only seven times and outrebounded the Huskies, 49-28. Eastern outscored USM in the paint, 44-10.
Freshman guard Collin Jordan (Cheshire) added 15 points for Eastern, which got 53.2 percent shooting from its starters.
In the other semifinal Friday, No. 2 Rhode Island College faces No. 3 Massachusetts Dartmouth. The Anchormen have won six of the last eight tournament championships.
Eastern swept Keene State on the way to a 13-1 LEC regular-season record. The Warriors routed the Owls, 95-71, Jan. 20 at Keene, NH and posted an 82-76 come-from-behind win over Keene Feb. 11 at Geissler Gymnasium.
