HARTFORD, Conn. – Inside players Wyatt Smith and Gordon Jeter combined for all 24 of Salisbury University's points over the final 15 minutes of the first half as the Gulls moved into the second round of the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament with a 66-54 victory over Eastern Connecticut State University Friday night at the Ferris Athletic Center on the campus of Trinity College.

With its tenth straight win, Salisbury (21-7) will play the winner of Friday's late game between Trinity and Colby-Sawyer College. Saturday's game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Ranked fifth in the region, Eastern (22-6) was making its third appearance in the NCAA tournament in the last four years but had its season end following its first two-game losing streak of the year. The Gulls, who lost by 20 to Eastern two years ago in the regular season in the only previous matchup between the programs, were making their first NCAA appearance in 18 years.

In each of its five previous tournament appearances, Eastern had advanced through the first round.  In NCAA play, the Warriors had defeated Husson University last year and Medaille and SUNY Oswego in 2012. In the ECAC, the team had reached the final all three times, winning the championship once.

Leading by one, Eastern managed only one field goal and four points over the final minutes of the first half as the Gulls used a 14-4 run to move out to an 11-point, 31-20 lead at halftime.

Th e 6-foot-5 inch lefty-shooting Smith was 9-for-11 from the floor in the first half, scoring 20 points on an assortment of moves close to the basket and short jumpers. Smith and the 6-foot-5 inch Jeter combined for all of their team's final 24 points of the half, Smith netting 18 and Jeter six.

At left: The crowd had a definite Eastern flavor, with a large number of students and friends traveling to Hartford to support the Warriors. (Photo by Liam Murphy)

The teams traded baskets through the first 11 minutes of the game before the Warriors went stone cold, missing eight consecutive shots. The Warriors shot 27.6 percent from the floor in the first half (1-for-11 from "three"). Salisbury fared nearly as poorly from three-point range (1-for-8) in the first half but found success going inside to Smith and Jeter.

Led by Smith – a 58.4 percent field goal shooter this year -- Salisbury shot 46.2 percent from the floor in the first half, outrebounded Eastern by seven and sank all six of its free throws in holding the Warriors to their lowest first-half scoring total of the year.

Five of the first six fouls of the game were called against Salisbury, but it soon evened out when the Gulls began working the ball inside to Smith and Jeter.

Trailing by 11 at the break, Eastern came out re-energized after the break, using a 9-2 run in in the opening minutes to slice the Salisbury lead to four on driving layup by freshman Tarchee Brown (Rockville) off a rebound and pass from sophomore Hugh Lindo (Enfield).

Minutes later, junior guard Trachone Preston (Enfield) – playing his first game in a month due to an ankle injury – sank his first bucket of the game and followed with a pair of free throws following a Lindo rebound as the Warriors pulled to within three, 41-38, with 12:15 left. With 3:28 left, Preston was fouled while shooting a three-pointer and connected on all three to pull the Warriors to as close as three for the final time, 55-52.

Jeter followed by scoring on a baseline drive after Preston's free throws, and after the Warriors missed a hurried three-pointer with the shot clock winding down, Jeter swished a shot turnaround jump and Smith cemented the win with a dunk off an Eastern turnover to make it a nine-point spread with one minute left.

Smith and Jeter combined for 51 of their team's point total and 15 of its 36 rebounds. Smith dominated play with a game-high 37 points – nearly three times his season average – Jeter tacking on 14. The pair was 22-for-29 from the floor, Smith going 16-for-20.

Lindo and Preston each had ten points. Brown, hobbled with a recent leg injury, played only 13 minutes in the second half and added eight points in the game. Lindo led both teams with 13 rebounds.

The Warriors shot just 31.7 percent from the floor – their lowest mark of the year and 14 percentage points below their season average – but were perfect from the stripe on 13 attempts.

Content to feed the ball to Smith and Jeter, Salisbury rang up a 52.1 shooting percentage, 64.9 percent on 37 two-point attempts. The Gulls were also 15-for-19 from the stripe.