KEENE, N.H. 12/4/04 - Harley Davis (Newburyport, Mass.) had 14 points and nine rebounds and Adam Gervais (Chelsea, Me.), for the second straight game came off the bench to contribute 14 points and six rebounds, to lead the Keene State College men's basketball team to a Little East opening 77-69 victory over UMass-Dartmouth at Spaulding Gym on Saturday.

Joe Shaw (Concord, N.H.) had 11 points and Ben Maynard (Nobleboro, Me.) finished with a game high 11 rebounds as KSC improves to 5-1 (1-0 LEC). UMD falls to 3-2 (0-1 LEC). Keene State, which opened up an early 12 point first half lead (18-6), had to settle for a seven point advantage (35-28) at the break. Gervais, who came in after Sean Sullivan (Athol, Mass.) picked up two early fouls, led the way with 10 points while Davis added eight.

Making his first appearance of the season, Carl Slate (North Attleboro, Mass.) pushed Keene State's lead up to 14 points (60-46) with a three-pointer at the 8:32 mark. The Corsairs roared back to close the gap to three points (67-64) on a trey by William Cardoza (West Wareham, Mass.) with 3:05 to play.

Sullivan returned to the game to beat the 35 second clock with a three-pointer that made it 71-64 with 1:10 to play. Chris Laporiore (Grafton, Mass.) narrowed the lead to four (71-67) with 1:01 to go. UMD didn't get any closer as Shaw hit three free throws and KSC took advantage of a couple of Corsair turnovers to seal the victory.

"It's nice to get our first Little East win of the season," said Davis. "We had some people get in foul trouble, and it just shows the depth we have on this team."

Lapriore finished with 16 points, Cardoza added 14 points, including four three-pointers, and James Campbell (Marlboro, Mass.) had 10 rebounds to lead UMD.

Keene State travels to Division I Dartmouth College on Thursday (7 p.m.).