Box Score MIAMI – Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball senior forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) broke the program's all-time rebounding record and junior guard Tarchee Brown (Rockville) scored his 1,000th point two minutes apart in the second half as the Warriors defeated Eastern University, 89-72, Monday night at the Hoop MIA D3 Holiday Shootout at Immaculata-LaSalle High School.
Brown reached and exceeded the 1,000-point mark with an inside basket following a rebound by Lindo with 16:29 left in the game – his 14th and 15th points of the game – and Lindo followed two minutes later with his fourth rebound that broke the 44-year-old program record of 1,036 set by E-Club Hall of Famer Lou Chartier.
Eastern Connecticut (5-5) outscored Eastern University (5-3) 13-4 to open the second half and build a 17-point, 55-38 lead. Lindo's dunk off his own steal with six minutes left ballooned the lead to 19, 77-58, before the Eagles got as close as nine with 2:43 remaining. The Warriors were 7-of-8 from the stripe over the final two minutes to preserve the lead, junior guard Kendall Marquez (Willimantic) a perfect 4-of-4 in that final stretch.
Coming off Sunday night's 76-68 loss to Buffalo State after scoring the first ten points of the game, the Warriors didn't allow a field goal over the final four minutes of the first half -- outscoring the Eagles 12-2 – to carry an eight-point, 42-34 lead into the break. In those final minutes, junior guard Brenden Young (Amston) came off the bench to give the Warriors a lift with a jumper and three-point field goal, and Brown sank three of four free throws
Brown led Eastern with 24 points and had seven rebounds, Lindo adding 13 points and 13 rebounds (all in the second half) for his 37th double-double in 93 career games, and sophomore guard Tyrell Arnum (Bloomfield) had seven assists. Freshman point guard Carlos Gonzalez (Springfield, MA) contributed nine points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds with just one turnover in 18 minutes.
As a team, the Warriors shot 53.7 percent from the floor -- their third-best percentage of the season -- and outrebounded their opponent by 19.
Brown becomes the program's 31st 1,000-point scorer, ninth under 15th-year head coach Bill Geitner.
Senior guard Shaquan Turk topped all scorers with 33 points for the Eagles, who were playing their first game since December 10. An 82 percent free throw shooter, the 6-foot-4 inch Turk was 15-of-20 from the stripe.
In two games in Miami, Eastern shot just under 50 percent (49.3) from the floor, including 58.1 percent from inside the three-point line. Led by Arnum (11 assists) and Gonzalez (8), 60 percent of the team's buckets were assisted upon. Costly in Sunday's loss to Buffalo were poor free throw shooting and three-point shooting, the Warriors managing a FT mark of only 52.6 and 17.2 three-point percentage in two games in Florida.
In Miami, Brown (21.0), Lindo (14.5) and senior center David Canny (Torrington) (12.5) all averaged double figures in points. Lindo averaged 13.5 rebounds and Brown 6.0. Lindo connected on 68.4 percent of his field goals (13-of-19). Nunez was 5-of-6 from the stripe.
Eastern has won four of its last five since starting 1-4 against stiff competition, while the Eagles had won their previous five after dropping their first two.
Eastern faces Manhattanville College Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. in the opening round of the Trinity College Holiday Invitational.
