PLYMOUTH, N.H. --  Plymouth State University's Jack Preston made up for lost time  in leading the Panthers to an 83-79 Little East Conference men's basketball victory over conference-leading Eastern Connecticut State University Saturday afternoon at Foley Gymnasium.

After sitting out Eastern's 18-point win over visiting Plymouth a month ago at Geissler Gymnasium, Plymouth's 6-foot-6 inch senior forward cashed in 9-of-10 field goal attempts – mostly all from close range -- on the way to a game-high 24 points as his team handed Eastern (14-7, 8-2 LEC) its second conference loss in its last three games. Plymouth (10-10, 4-6 LEC) had lost seven of its previous nine.

Despite the loss, three-time defending LEC regular-season champion Eastern maintains a one-game lead in the LEC standings over Keene State College, which was stunned at the University of Southern Maine, 90-71, Saturday. The Huskies are in last place in the conference. UMass Dartmouth pulled even with Keene in the standings after coming from 11 points down early in the second half to down host Western Connecticut State University, 70-69, Saturday.

The Warriors struggled all day long after the Panthers used a 16-0 run to turn a six-point deficit into a ten-point, 27-17 lead midway through the first half. Eastern was able to regain a five-point lead four minutes into the second half but never led again after Preston converted the second of three straight inside buckets in a 40 second span with 14 minutes left.

Eastern cut a six-point deficit to two with 46 seconds left on an inside basket from senior center David Canny (Torrington) and steal and driving layup by freshman point guard Carlos Gonzalez (Springfield) and regained possession for an opportunity to go ahead on an unforced Plymouth turnover with 39 seconds left. After inbounding at half court, the Warriors never got off a shot when Plymouth senior guard Nathan Clarke stole a bounce pass in the paint, and 6-foot-9 inch Mike Osgood sank two clinching free throws following an Eastern timeout with six seconds left.

Osgood, limited to three points and five rebounds in 25 minutes of Eastern's win a month ago, teamed with Preston inside for 22 points. He was 8-of-12 from the floor – mostly on easy points in the paint – and 5-of-6 from the stripe. Plymouth, which was 10-of-21 from the foul line in an overtime home loss Monday, sank 18 of 22 against Eastern and converted 31 of 54 field goals (57.4 percent), most of them in the paint.

Junior guard Tarchee Brown (Rockville) and senior forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) each contributed one solid half for Eastern. Brown had 17 of his team-high 23 points in the first half – sparking Eastern's quick 12-4 lead with a pair of early three-pointers and eight points in the first three minutes. Lindo managed 13 of his 15 points and six of eight rebounds in the second half. Gonzalez chipped in 12 points, four assists and four steals. Junior forward Jacob Collins (Bristol) gave Eastern a lift off the bench, sinking all three of his field goals and adding six points in nine minutes off the bench. Canny scored all six of his points in the second half on three perfect field goal attempts.

Senior guard Curtis Arsenault – who like Preston comes off the bench – followed an unimpressive showing against Eastern a month ago by scoring 17 points in 24 minutes with five rebounds and four assists for Plymouth.

Eastern hosts Western Connecticut Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in a conference game.