'KEENE, N.H. 1/11/03  –  Senior guard Derek Swenson (Attleboro, MA.) had 25 points, four assists, and six steals to lead the Keene State College men's basketball team to a 99-88 victory over Rhode Island College in a Little East Conference games played Saturday in Keene.

Keene State improves to 10-1 overall and remains (3-0) undefeated in the LEC while R.I. College (8-4, 1-2 LEC) had its six game winning streak (its longest in 13 years) snapped with the loss.

Alphonse Michalski, (Northampton, MA.,), who hit six of his seven shots from the field, had a career high 16 points and Brandon Johanson (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) tied his career high with 15 points. Chris Timson (Beverly, MA.) also had 16 points for the Owls.

After taking its biggest lead of 16 points (55-39) with 1:26 to go in the first half, Keene State had to settle for a 55-47 lead at halftime after RIC scored eight unanswered points to finish the half.

The Owls pulled away from the Anchormen early in the second half.  Swenson's three-pointer capped an 11-1 run that put KSC up 66-49 three minutes into the second half.  Later in the half, Timson hit back-to-back treys to make it a 96-68 game with 9:41 to play.

Six RIC players hit for double figures with Kamran Alemdar and Andre Daley (Boston, MA.) leading the way with 18 and 14 points respectively.  Jason Harris (Bedford, MA.) pulled down a game high nine rebounds to go along with his 10 points.

KSC hit 12 of its 21 three-point attempts in the game. Swenson and Timson hit four each beyond the arc.

Keene State will be at Western CT on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) for an LEC game.

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