WILLIMANTIC, CT 1/21/03 - The Keene State College men's basketball team snapped its two game losing streak with a hard-fought 70-67 Little East Conference victory over Eastern Connecticut State University on the road at Willimantic, CT on Tuesday.

Derek Swenson (Attleboro, MA.), who hit seven of his ten shots form the field, led KSC with 17 points and six rebounds.  Returning to the starting line-up, Kyle Purinton (Northwood, N.H.) added 13 points and six rebounds while Bennett Pawlusiak (Manchester, N.H.) finished with 10 points and also six boards.

Chris Timson (Beverly, MA.) missed the game the game with a sprained ankle and is probable for Thursday's game against Clark University.

"It was really a nice Little East win for us, "said KSC Coach Rob Colbert.  "We got to be very stingy. Every conference win, especially on the road, is big at this stage of the season."

Leading 36-28 at halftime, the Owls saw the Warriors go on a 9-2 spurt to take a 41-40 lead out of the break. With the Owls nursing a slim 55-53 lead with 10:30 to play, both team went scoreless until Swenson broke the drought with a jumper at the 5:21 mark

KSC couldn't pull away from the Warriors until the final minute of the game.  Never able to get their lead above six points in the second half, the Owls went ahead 65-59 on a basket by Ben Maynard (Nobleboro, Me.) with 22 seconds to play.  Steve Bartunek made it a two point game (67-65) on a three-pointer with 11 seconds to go. The Owls scored the final five points of the game on free throws by Purinton and Pawlusiak in the closing seconds that enabled them to hold on for the LEC win.

"Unlike the previous two games, I thought we executed our half court offense the best we've done all season," said Colbert.  "We were able to get good shots."

Colbert felt that Purinton, Maynard and Pawlusiak had strong games.  "Pawlusiak I thought was the key," said Colbert.  "He came in and gave us some big minutes off the bench."

Gordon Shepard and Michael Kipphut tied for team scoring honors for ECSU (5-10, 3-3 LEC) with 18 points each. It was the Warriors first home conference loss of the season.

KSC (11-3, 4-2 LEC) returns home to face Clark University on Thursday (7:30 p.m.).