HARTFORD, Conn. – Senior forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) had  21 points and 11 rebounds as the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team shook the rust off an 11-day layoff, leading from start to finish in a 70-56 victory over Manhattanville College Friday night in the first round of the Trinity College Holiday Classic at the Ferris Athletic Center.

Eastern (6-5) faces host Trinity College (6-4) in Saturday's 2 p.m. championship game. Trinity defeated St. Joseph's College (NY), 78-66, in Friday's first game. Both Eastern and Trinity have won five of their last six. The Warriors have beaten the Bantams the last six times the teams have met.

Lindo, who played all but the final 1:42, was 8-of-12 from the floor en route to his game-high scoring total,  with five steals and four assists and moved to within 21 points of 1,000 in his career. His 11 rebounds led the Warriors. Senior center David Canny (Torrington) contributed all ten of his points and all seven of his rebounds in the first half, when Eastern took a ten-point, 39-29, lead into the break.

Junior guard Kendall Marquez (Willimantic) came off the bench to toss in 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting from beyond the three-point line. Two of Marquez' three second-half threes  restored Eastern's double-digit lead, with two coming in a two-minutes span late in the game.

Leading by six in the opening minutes of the second half, Eastern all but sewed up the win with a 12-0 run that made it an 18-point advantage, 53-35, with 8:37 left. Both of Lindo's dunks came in the run, the first off a steal and pass from junior guard Tarchee Brown (Rockville) and the second following his own defensive rebound.  Marquez' first second-half three-pointer  added to the scoring spurt, with Lindo's steal and feed to junior guard Donny Craig (Waterford) capping the decisive flurry.

In addition to his offense, the 6-foot-4 inch Lindo neutralized Manhattanville (3-7) leading scorer Alex Tuci, a 6-foot-5  junior forward. Tucci managed but two points on 1-of-4 shooting and three rebounds in 19 minutes. Tucci, who leads the Valiants in both scoring (17.6) and rebounding (9.3), left the game soon after the first of Lindo's two second-half dunks five minutes into the second half.

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