Box Score WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Six players field goals contributed field goals from beyond the arc when the Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team broke the 11-year-old program game record with 19 three-point field goals in cruising to its 29th straight Little East Conference regular-season home win, 94-55, over Western Connecticut State University Wednesday evening at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
With three LEC regular-season games remaining, conference-leading Eastern (15-7, 9-2 LEC) remains one game ahead of Keene State College and Massachusetts Dartmouth in its quest for a fourth straight LEC regular-season title. Western (12-9, 4-7 LEC) entered play in a three-way tie for fourth place and is now tied for fifth with Plymouth State University.
Junior guards Brenden Young (Amston) and Kendall Marquez (Willimantic) combined for seven three-point field goals in helping stake the Warriors to a 21-point, 48-27 halftime lead.
Trailing by one midway through the first half, Eastern went on a six-minute rampage which netted them a 19-1 surge as it held the Colonials scoreless from the floor. Senior forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) got it going with a dunk off a pass from junior guard Jaysen Nunez (Hartford) that gave the Warriors the lead for good. Marquiz and Young then set each other up for three-point field goals, with Young taking another feed from Marquez for another bomb moments later that pushed the lead to ten, 27-17 with 8:30 left before halftime. Following Western's only point in the Eastern run, Marquez nailed another from long range on another pass from Nunez, then finished off a pretty pass from sophomore Tyrell Arnum (Bloomfield) with a bucket underneath, before Nunez took Lindo's feed and swished another three-pointer as the lead ballooned to 17, 35-18 with 4:30 left in the first half.
Marquez and Young each finished with five three-point field goals on a combined 15 attempts, Nunez adding four threes in five attempts to highlight the offense. Marquez led all scorers with 19 points, Young adding 18 and Nunez 16 -- career-highs for the latter two. Nunez also dished out five assists, with senior center Brandon Kuczenski (Naugatuck) and sophomore forward Leonel Hyatt (Greenwich) coming off the bench with five rebounds apiece which helped Eastern to a +16 advantage on the boards.
The 6-foot-4 inch Lindo, ranked seventh nationally in rebounding and tied for eighth in double-doubles, recorded his15th double-double with 12 points and a game-high 19 rebounds. Young entered the game with a total of eight three-pointers in 58 total minutes this year. Included in Young's night's work was a long three-pointer at the buzzer ending the first half -- his fourth three-point goal in five first-half tries -- that ignited pandemonium and gave the Warriors their 21-point halftime advantage.
Eastern limited Western to 28.8 percent shooting from the floor while the Warriors canned 67.9 percent of their three-pointers and shot 53.0 percent overall in the game in sweeping the season series from Western and giving them 12 straight wins over their rivals.
Junior guard Bobby Bynum topped Western with 17 points, sophomore forward Jauch Green adding ten.
Eastern visits Massachusetts Dartmouth Saturday at 3 p.m. in a conference game.
