Read Matt Noonan's story on D3Hoops.com: Rolling Warriors Hungry For More

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team scored the first nine points of the game, leading from start to finish to remain undefeated in the Little East Conference with a 77-59 victory over Plymouth State University Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

Now 74-13 in LEC regular-season play over the last seven years, three-time defending champion Eastern (9-5, 3-0 LEC) won its fifth straight and eighth  in its last nine games, defeating Plymouth (7-5, 1-2 LEC) at Geissler Gym for the eighth straight time.

Eastern shot 52.2 percent from the floor in the first half, using a 7-2 run in the final minutes of the first half after the Panthers had pulled to within two to to move out to a seven-point, 36-29 lead at the break. Plymouth remained within striking distance throughout most of the second half. Leading by nine, the Warriors scored seven straight – junior guard Kendall Marquez (Willimantic) sinking a three-pointer late in the run – to take a 16-point, 67-51 lead into the final five minutes.

Sophomore point guard Jaysen Nunez (Hartford) came off the bench in the second half to contribute key baskets. With Eastern leading by six, the Warriors missed three free throws in three seconds, but Nunez swished a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it a nine-point lead with 11 minutes left, then answered a Plymouth three-point field goal with a driving bucket from the right side to push the lead by to ten with nine minutes left.

Junior guard Tarchee Brown (Rockville) led four double-digit scorers with 20 points, senior forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) scoring 13 points and grabbing 16 rebounds, Marquez coming off the bench for 12 points and freshman point guard Carlos Gonzalez (Springfield) adding 11 points and pulling down five rebounds.

Brown helped carry Eastern in the first half with 13 points (4-of-5 FG, 4-of-4 FG) and Lindo had 11 of his points and 15 of his rebounds after the break.

Freshman guard Jaylen Leroy had 17 points for Plymouth, senior forward Jack Preston coming off the bench for 11 points and seven rebounds, and senior guard Ernie Johnson (Springfield, MA) chipping in ten points. Preston, who leads the team this year in scoring without starting a game, leads the LEC in shooting percentage (59.6) but was limited to 4-of-14 shooting from the floor against Eastern. Leroy was 5-of-5 from the floor (4-of-4 from three-point range) and scored 14 points in the first half but managed only three points on four field goal attempts in the second half.

Eastern  outrebounded Plymouth by 15 but left 21 points at the foul line by missing 21 of 42 attempts and turned the ball over 19 times after giving it up only four times in an 87-75 win over No. 3 nationally-ranked Amherst College four days ago.

Eastern hosts UMass Dartmouth in a Little East Conference game Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.