CONCORD, N.H. 12/4/01 - Keene State College defeated Colby-Sawyer College 87-71 Tuesday in a battle of top New England men's basketball teams at he second annual Granite State Division III Challenge at New Hampshire Technical Institute. The night was dedicated to Jacob's Bridge Through Autism, an organization that brings awareness to the development of the disability.

KSC and Colby-Sawyer, both 4-1 coming in, hadn't played since the 1998 ECAC championship game.

"You always say you're only looking forward to your next game, but you can definitely say we had this one circled on the calendar," said KSC guard Bennett Pawlusiak.

Pawlusiak had plenty to do with the outcome. His defense helped turn an 18-8 first half deficit into a 44-39 halftime lead. Pawlusiak also made the of the game with 5:28 left when he blocked a shot, picked the ball up and raced in for the lay-up, was fouled and made the foul shot. Dave Stantial led the offense with 22 points, including six 3-pointers. Trailing 37-30, they went on a 10-0 run behind Chris Timson (17 points) and Derek Swenson (19 points), and Matt Wheeler (11 points).

The Chargers closed to three a couple of times -the last with 8:04 to play - but Stantial answered with a three-pointer that closed the deal.

"Defense was definitely the key," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert, who credited assistant Eric Simonelli with coming up with the defensive game plan. "The big thing that helped us was when they got into foul trouble with those two big guys."