KEENE, N.H. 1/12/02- Dave Stantial (Beverly, MA.) had 25 points to lead Keene State College to a 89-85 victory over UMA-Dartmouth in a battle of the top Little East Conference men's basketball team at Spaulding Gym on Saturday.

The game was a rematch of last year's LEC Championship that saw the Corsairs edge the Owls 99-89 in overtime at North Dartmouth, MA..

Off to its best start in the program's history, Keene State (10-1, 4-0 LEC) has won seven straight games. UMA-Dartmouth goes to 8-5 and 3-2 in conference play.

The game wasn't decided until the final minutes of play. Jason Levecque (Westbrook, Me) scored on an offensive rebound to put KSC up 83-79 with 1:03 to go. After Chris Timson (Beverly, MA.)made it 84-79 with a free throw, Ivan Britto (New Bedford, MA.) closed the gap to three (84-81) with a three-pointer with 32 seconds to play. Chris Urquhart (Salem, NH) hit a pair of free throws and Brian Cagle connected on a lay-up as KSC led 86-83 with 20 seconds to go. Following a free throw by Timson, Cagle scored after his own miss shot to make it a 87-85 game with eight seconds on the clock. Bennett Pawlusiak (Bedford, NH) then hit two free throws with 5.8 seconds to play to give KSC the win.

Timson had 15 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists and Jason Levecque (Westbrook, Me.) hit seven of eight shots from the field to finish with 14 points for the Owls. Cagle had 22 points and 12 rebounds and Tim Gaspar (Dartmouth, MA.) finished with 20 points and 10 assists to lead the Corsairs.

Keene State will host Eastern CT on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) at Spaulding Gym.