DANBURY, CT 2/9/02 - Despite losing to Western Connecticut 90-83 on Saturday, the Keene State College men's basketball team claimed it's first ever (non-tie)Little East Conference regular season title. The Owls earned the top seed in the upcoming LEC Tournament by virtue of Eastern Connecticut's 85-75 victory over UMA-Dartmouth.

Keene State, which tied UMD for the championship in 1998-99, will host the semifinals and finals of the tournament on Feb. 22-23.

Beverly, MA., natives, Dave Stantial had a game-high 27 points and Chris Timson finished with 21 points and eight rebounds but it wasn't enough to hold off the Colonials. Ranked first in the Northeast region and fourth in the NABC national Div. III ranking, Keene State (20-2, 11-1 LEC), which saw its school record 17 game winning streak come to an end, also suffered its first conference loss of the season.

Trailing by six with 1:31 to play, the Owls scored five quick points to cut the deficit to one (82-81) on a three-pointer by Timson with 54 seconds left to play. KSC would get no closer the rest of the game.

Derek Swenson (Attleboro, MA.) had another strong game for the Owls with 19 points. Kevin Matthews led WCSU with 26 points.

Keene State will be back at Spaulding Gym on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) to face rival Plymouth State.

Keene State receiving votes in most recent d3hoops.com Top 25 poll (Feb. 3).
Keene State ranked No. 4 in most recent NABC Top 25 poll.