Box Score DANBURY, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team broke from a halftime tie by scoring the first nine points of the second half and maintained a double-digit lead over the final 13 minutes on the way to a 95-77 Little East Conference victory over Western Connecticut State University Wednesday night at Feldman Arena.
A winner of eight straight and 11 of 12 since a 1-4 start, conference-leading Eastern (12-5, 6-0 LEC) recorded its highest point total against Western (10-5, 2-4 LEC) in 35 years, since a 97-67 home win in 1981-82. The Warriors have won the last 11 times the teams have met.
Ranked eighth nationally in rebounding and tied for ninth in double-doubles, senior forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) posted his 11th double-double (fifth straight) of the season with 18 points and game-highs of 18 rebounds, four blocked shots and five assists. Junior guard Tarchee Brown (Rockville) led Eastern with 21 points, with freshman point guard Carlos Gonzalez (Springfield) adding 14 points, junior guard Kendall Marquez (Willimantic) 11 and senior center David Canny (Torrington) ten.
Eastern outscored Western by 18 in the second half, scoring 51 points (its fourth 50+ half of the year) by shooting 53.9 percent from the floor, converting 8 of 11 free throws and turning the ball over only three times. In the second half, Brown had 11 points, Lindo ten points and ten rebounds and the pair combined to connect on nine of 15 field goals. Sophomore guard Tyrell Arnum (Bloomfield) also chipped in all nine of his points in the second half and sophomore forward Leonel Hyatt (Greenwich) came off the bench to play 18 minutes and score four points and grab six rebounds to help Eastern to a +10 advantage on the board.
Trailing by 19 with seven minutes left, the hosts made several runs to cut into the Eastern lead, narrowing the margin to 12 on a jumper by Bobby Byrum (game-high 24 points) with 3:45 left. Gonzalez allowed Eastern to re-gain the momentum by sinking an off-balance shot in the paint, then stole the ball in the backcourt and layed it in to push the lead back to 16. Moments later, Lindo swished two free throws and Arnum put back an offensive rebound as the lead returned to 18, 89-71, with 2:25 left.
A back-and-forth first half had Western leading by six with eight minutes left and the Warriors later surging to an eight-point lead with three minutes remaining before the break. Eastern did not score from the floor and managed only two points the rest of the half as Western pulled even at the break, 44-44. Gonzalez, an LEC Rookie-of-the-Year candidate, scored the first five points of the game and the 6-foot-11 inch Canny followed with six consecutive Eastern points early in the contest.
Marquez, facing Western for the first time in an Eastern uniform after playing two seasons for the Colonials, came off the bench to sink his first shot (a three-pointer) against his old team which lifted the Warriors into a 16-all tie eight minutes into the contest.
In the game, Eastern outscored Western by ten on second-half chances and by 17 off turnovers.
Eastern hosts the University of Southern Maine Saturday at 3 p.m. in a Little East Conference game.
