BOSTON, MASS. 1/31/2004 - The Keene State College men's basketball team bounced back from its non-conference loss earlier this week to post a 84-73 Little East Conference victory over the University of Massachusetts-Boston on Saturday at Clark Athletic Center in Boston.
The Owls, ranked 24th in the nation by D3hoops.com, improve to 16-3 and a perfect 9-0 in the LEC. The Beacons fall to 4-15 on the season and 1-8 in the LEC.
The Beacons largest lead (10-5) came on five points by junior guard Roger Perry (Roxbury, Mass.) at the 16:35 mark in the first half. Keene State came right back with a 10-2 burst to take a 15-12 edge on a lay-up by Chris Timson (Beverly, Mass.) with 13:58 left in the half. The Beacons regrouped to make it a three-point game (24-21) with 5:12 to play, but the Owls closed out the half with a 17-6 run, fueled by eight points from Matthew Wheeler (Shrub Oak, N.Y.), to take a 38-30 halftime advantage.
Keene State returned from the break on fire. Freshman guard Tony Barros (Dorchester, MA) drilled a three-pointer to pull the Beacons to within 48-42 with 14:42 showing on the second half clock, but it was as close as UMB would get. The Owls went on a 13-5 run to take its biggest lead of the day, 61-47, with 9:28 remaining. KSC was 15-for-20 from the field (75%) in the second half.
"It's good to be back on a winning track," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert. "It's a conference win on the road and it's a good way to wrap up the month."
Timson led a balanced offense with 22 points and a team-high nine rebounds for the Owls. Sean Sullivan (Athol, Mass.) netted 18 points on 6-10 from the field, while Wheeler finished with 18 points. Harley Davis (Newburyport, Mass.) also contributed 15 points, four assists, two steals and a pair of rebounds.
Perry and Eric Summerville (Little Rock, Ark) scored 19 points for the Beacons, while junior forward Eddie Ramos (Malden, MA) dropped in 12 points.
Keene State will be back in action when it travels to Tufts University for a non-conference game on Tuesday (7 p.m.).
(Courtesy UMass-Boston Sports Information)
