DANBURY --  Western Connecticut State University outscored Eastern Connecticut State University 16-6 over five-plus minutes in the first half to move out to a 15-point lead and was never headed in an  85-66 Little East Conference men's basketball victory Wednesday night at Feldman Arena.

WestConn's (13-8, 9-3 LEC) fifth straight victory this year sent Eastern (12-8, 4-8 LEC) to its fourth loss in its last five outings.

Since winning its first six and eight of its first nine road games, Eastern has dropped three straight on the road Wednesday – all by double figures – while WestConn improved to 7-2 at Feldman Arena with its fifth straight home victory.

Eastern entered play clinging to the sixth and final LEC tournament spot, a half-game ahead of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, but dropped into seventh place, a half-game behind the Corsairs, who erased a nine-point halftime deficit Wednesday night to hand Rhode Island College only its third home loss in 11 contests with a 77-68 victory at the Murray Center (for Eastern, two two-point victories over UMass Dartmouth this year give the Warriors the tie-breaker over the Corsairs in the event the two teams finish tied in the final LEC standings).

The WestConn win,  coupled with the RIC loss, moves the Wolves into sole possession of second place in the conference, a game ahead of the Anchormen and 2 ½ games behind unbeaten leader Keene State College.

Eastern played the game against the LEC team leader in scoring (86.1) and scoring margin (+18.4) without two regular forwards (one a starter) and without its starting point guard.

Sophomore guard Cedrick Similien (Norwich) led Eastern with 13 points, 6-foot-7 inch junior forward Jalen Hamblin (West Hartford) adding ten points and six rebounds. Senior forward Sheriff Bilewu (Waterbury) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in a career-high 36 minutes and sophomore guard Esco Greene (New Britain) handed out six assists.

After shooting 51.7 percent from the floor, scoring 32 points off Eastern's season-high 28 turnovers and totalling 46 points in the paint in a 78-67 win at Eastern a month ago, the Wolves sank 50.0 percent of their shots, scored 23 points off Eastern's 22 turnovers and cashed in 52 points in the paint Wednesday.

Twelve players had at least two points and 14 pulled down at least one rebound for the Wolves.  Scoring leaders Keeshawn Jones (15 points) and Jourdan Belcher (14), both seniors, each shot 7-of-11 from the floor.

 WestConn swept the season series against Eastern for the second straight year and has captured eight of the last 12 and 16 of the last 22 in the series.

Beginning with Dean College Saturday at 1 p.m., Eastern plays three of its next four games at Geissler Gymnasium. The Warriors close out the regular season with four conference games (two at home) beginning Wednesday at Keene State.

A win over Dean would leave the Warriors with a perfect 9-0 final record against non-conference teams this year. Eastern and Dean are meeting for only the third time. The Warriors won, 87-64, in the first meeting in the 2017-18 season-opener at the WPI Ted Coghlin Memorial Tournament at Harrington Auditorium en route to the tournament title and an eventual 79-62 victory over Keene State in the LEC tournament final and a final record of 26-4. The Bulldogs tied the all-time series with a 70-63 triumph last Nov. 29 at Pieri Gymnasium, outscoring the Warriors 45-26 in the second half after trailing by 12 at halftime.

Coming off a 9-17 season a year ago, Dean is 13-7 this year, 5-5 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) under fourth-year head coach Joe Cabral. The Bulldogs are 11-2 at home but only 2-5 on the road (Eastern is 4-4 at home) and are coming off three straight losses. Tuesday, the Bulldogs dropped a 93-68 decision to homestanding University of Saint Joseph (15-5). The contest will be the first this year against an LEC team for Dean.

Dean averages 11 more points per game than Eastern but gives up an average of five more. The Bulldogs feature five double-digit scorers, led by guards Billy Ray Barnes (15.1 ppg.), Frankie Idlett (14.8), Ja'maine Davenport ( 11.4) and Christian Yeates (11.4) and Greg Farrow (10.2). Davenport is shooting 53.0 percent from the floor, Barnes 51.9 percen.The 6-foot-3 inch Barnes (7.6) and six-foot Idlett (6.7) are the team's top rebounders and team leaders in assists. Idlett is shooting 80.0 percent from the stripe, Davenport 78.4 and Barnes 77.9.

Fifteen of the team's 18 roster players are transfers.

In its final four conference games, Eastern needs wins to split the season series with Keene State and Rhode Island College (Jan. 19) and sweep this year's two-game set with VTSU Castleton (Feb. 15 at home) and Plymouth State University (Feb. 22 on the road).