'WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - Junior forward Leon Martin (WOODBURY)
recorded his seventh double-double of the year with 19 points and
15 rebounds to spark the Eastern Connecticut State University men's
basketball team to an 83-74 Little East Conference upset win over
Keene State College Tuesday night at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.
The win is the first in the conference for Eastern (5-9, 1-5
little east) and the loss is the first in the conference for Keene
State (11-4, 5-1 little east), which had beaten the Warriors the
last nine times the clubs had met. The Warriors also snapped a four
-game overall losing streak with their first home victory since
upsetting Trinity College, 66-64 Nov. 22.
"We didn't play hard enough to win," said KSC Coach Rob
Colbert. "Everyone who played didn't compete."
Playing without two starting guards, Eastern controlled the
tempo and the lead throughout, but needed four straight free throws
from sophomore guard Daniel DeJesus (HARTFORD) over the final 16
seconds to hold off the Owls. Eastern led by 16, 43-27, at halftime
and by 20, 57-37, eight minutes into the second half before Keene
scrapped babck to within five, 73-68, with 1:27 left. Junior guard
Matt Albon (MIDDLEBURY) hit the first of a two-shot free
throw to give Eastern a 77-70 lead with 29 seconds left. After he
missed the second, junior post player Dan Trudeau (ROCKVILLE)
grabbed the rebound and put it back in to push the lead to nine,
79-70.
Martin sank eight of 12 field goals en route to his game-high
scoring total and also added three blocked shots and three
assists. Albon had 13 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard
Kris Johnson (STURBRIDGE, MA) scored all 11 of his points in the
first half, hitting three three-pointers. In his second career
start, first-year sophomore guard Greg Lasota (NEWINGTON) handed
out a career-high ten assists.
Sophomore guard David Sontag (Mont Vernon, NH) was the only
Keene player in double figures, finishing with 15 points. Nine of
his points came from the foul line. Keene, which leads the
conference in scoring (90.4 ppg.) and three-pointers (10.2 per
game), missed 20 of 24 three-pointers. Eastern, which shoots free
throws at a 65.6 percentage this year, sank 21 of 29
from the stripe (72.4).
KSC hits the road again to face R.I. College on Saturday (3
p.m.) Eastern visits SUNY Old Westbury Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
(Courtesy ECSU Sports Information)
