Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Junior guard Tarchee Brown (Rockville) connected on a three-pointer and freshman point guard Carlos Gonzalez (Springfield) followed by sinking four free throws to spark a 13-2 run in the second half as the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team went on to its 28th consecutive Little East Conference regular-season home victory with an 86-62 victory over Rhode Island College Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
Eastern (14-6, 8-1 LEC) led by 15 at halftime and by 18 three minutes into the second half before Rhode Island (9-10, 3-6 LEC) slowly cut into the lead, making it a six-point game on a jumper by junior guard Jovel Beckford (Providence, RI) with nine minutes left. Brown answered with his second of two three-pointers in the game, however, and after Beckford failed on a three-point attempt, Gonzalez sank four free throws over the next minute to restore the lead to 13, 66-53. Later in the run, junior guard Kendall Marquez (Willimantic) nailed one of his six long-range buckets and Gonzalez found senior forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) underneath for an easy two as the lead ballooned to 17, 72-55, with six minutes left.
With its 13th win in its last 15 games, Eastern remains a game ahead of Keene State College and moves two games ahead of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Keene defeated host UMass Boston, 85-80, but UMass Dartmouth was upended by visiting Plymouth State University, 70-67, Saturday. Eastern completes the season sweep of Rhode Island (a loser of three of its last four) after taking a 90-63 victory at The Murray Center Dec. 10.
Rhode Island, which shot just 28.6 percent from the floor and gave up 21 points off turnovers, is the last LEC team to beat Eastern in the regular season at Geissler Gym, posting a 60-50 victory on Jan. 26, 2013.
Despite playing only 27 minutes due to foul trouble, Lindo contributed his eighth straight double-double (14th this season) with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. He had grabbed ten rebounds in the first nine minutes but sat the rest of the half after being whistled for his second personal foul with 10:11 left in the half. Lindo entered the game ranked fifth nationally in rebounding (12.7) and sharing fifth place nationally in double-doubles, with 13.
First-year transfer Marquez (6-of-11 on three-pointers) dropped in a game-high 18 points in an Eastern-high 32 minutes off the bench in place of sophomore guard Tyrell Arnum (Bloomfield), who was limited to 18 minutes after being charged with his fourth personal foul 40 seconds into the second half. Brown had 14 points, six rebounds and a career-high ten assists, many of his passes finding 6-foot-11 senior David Canny (Torrington) unmarked for easy lay-ins. Canny equaled his career high with 17 points and helped the Warriors to a plus10 advantage in rebounds with seven. Seven of Gonzalez' 12 points came from the foul line. He also had four rebounds and four assists and only one turnover in 31 minutes.
Senior forward Domonique Bull led RIC with 15 points and also grabbed seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Benjamin Vezele had 14 points, a team-high 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots, while junior guard Malcolm Smith pulled ten rebounds.
Rhode Island played without sophomore guard Jimmy Fritzson, second on the team with 26 three-point field goals. The Anchormen missed 15 of 17 from long range, while Eastern was 11-of-28. The Warriors found double-digits in three-pointers for the second straight game after managing only one through the first 18 games.
Eastern visits Plymouth State Saturday in a conference game at 3 p.m.
