WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - The Eastern Connecticut State University men's basketball team got three-point field goals from six different players and led wire-to-wire on the strength of a season-high field goal shooting Saturday afternoon in a 98-67 Little East Conference victory over Plymouth State University at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

              The top team in the conference in three-point field goal percentage, Eastern (10-7, 4-3 Little East) nailed 12 of 18 from long-distance en route to its third win in the last four games. The three-point percentage of .667 and overall field goal percentage of .673 was the best of the season for the Warriors, who equaled their season-high total for three-point field goals.

              Eastern sank eight of 11 three-pointers in building a 15-point, 42-27 halftime lead, the and the second-half bulge never dipped below 13. An 18-4 run fueled by two three-pointers from junior guard Kevin Johnson (Sturbridge, Mass.) and one from sophomore guard Edwin Ortiz (Hartford, Conn.) produced a 27-point advantage, 62-35, six minutes into the second half.

              Johnson and Ortiz each had three three-pointers and junior Larry Kelley (New Haven, Conn.) and freshman Courtney Simmons (Middletown, Conn.) added two each. Ortiz, Simmons and Kelley combined for 7-for-7 shooting from behind the arc. Freshman forward Broderick Sawyer (Norwalk, Conn.) came off the bench to connect on all five of his field goals. With 10 points, he joined senior forward Kevin Zalucki (Enfield, Conn.), Johnson, Ortiz and Simmons with double figures in a balanced lineup. Zalucki had 12 points, Johnson and Ortiz 11 and Simmons 10.

              The loss was the 12th in the last 13 games for Plymouth State (4-13, 1-6 Little East), which got a game-high 12 points and six rebounds from junior guard Ben Huntington (Hampstead, N.H.)  Senior Chris Wilkinson (Newmarket, N.H.) added 11 points and sophomore Bryan Tracy (Manchester, N.H./Central) chipped in with 10.

              Eastern hosts Lyndon State College Sunday at 2 p.m., while PSU returns home to host Southern Maine Tuesday at Foley Gymnasium (7:30 p.m.)

(Courtesy of Eastern Connecticut Sports Information)

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