PROVIDENCE, R.I. 1/17/2004 - Alphonse Michalski (Northampton, Mass.) led a balanced Owl offense with 15 points as the Keene State College men's basketball team won its sixth straight and remained undefeated in the Little East Conference with a 78-67 victory over Rhode Island College in Providence on Saturday.
With the win, KSC improves to 11-2 overall and 5-0 in the LEC while Rhode Island College falls to 5-9 (2-2 LEC). The Owls have won seven straight games against RIC.
The Owls pulled way from the Anchormen with a 24-6 run late in the first half. Two three-pointer by Michalski, and one by Harley Davis (Newburyport, Mass.) pushed KSC's lead to 19 points (36-17) with 3:37 to go in the half.
"We've been working hard in practice and its' starting to come together for us, " said Michalski.
"I thought the difference in the game was the play of our big men," added KSC Coach Rob Colbert. "They competed against their forwards and did a good job scoring and rebounding. "
Sean Sullivan (Athol, Mass.) had 11 points, including nine in the second half, Chris Timson (Beverly, Mass.) finished with 11 points and a team-best seven rebounds, and Ben Maynard (Nobleboro, Maine) added 10 points.
RIC had just one player in double figures, Anthony Pierlioni with 10 points and six rebounds.
Today's win gave the Owls three LEC victories this week. "I'm very pleased with the conference wins, especially since two of the victories came on the road," Colbert said. "We didn't get caught up with looking ahead to other games."
Keene State continues its string of conference games when it visits rival Plymouth State University on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.). PSU also remained undefeated in the LEC with its 103-98 overtime win at Western Conn. on Saturday.
