WILLIMANTIC, CT 2/5/02- Senior forward David Stantial had 27 points and ten rebounds to power the Keene State College men's basketball team to its 11th straight Little East Conference victory, 76-65 over Eastern Connecticut State University Tuesday at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

Rated sixth nationally in Division III, Keene (19-1, 11-0) raced to a 28-point 58-30 midway through the second half and scored its final seven points from the foul line after a run of ten straight points by Eastern had cut the gap to nine, 69-60 with 1:26 left.

The win is the 16th straight for Keene, which nailed down a first-round bye in the upcoming conference tournament. The top two finishers in the final standings earn a bye. Keene is challenging to become the first conference team to go unbeaten in the regular season since UMA Dartmouth went 10-0 in 1992/93.

Eastern (11-11, 6-5) has dropped three of its last four and three straight conference games.

The Owls limited ECSU to just 20 first-half points, getting 12 from Stantial in the opening 20 minutes and nine from junior guard Derek Swenson. Sophomore guard Chris Timson followed Stantial in the game with 15 points and added a team-high 12 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Gordon Shepard led Eastern with 17 points, 15 coming in the second half. Shepard and senior guard Rich Vega combined to miss 14 of 15 field goals in the first half. Vega finished with 11 points. Senior center Billy Rea grabbed 14 rebounds for Eastern, which was outrebounded 53-36. As a team, Eastern missed 24 of 30 three-point field goals and nine of 22 free throws but turned the ball over only eight times.

Keene visits Western Connecticut Saturday at 3 p.m.

Keene State receiving votes in most recent d3hoops.com Top 25 poll (Feb. 3).
Keene State ranked No. 6 in most recent NABC Top 25 poll.