'KEENE, N.H. 11/18/05 - Sophomore guard David Sontag (Mont Vernon, N.H.) had a game-high 27 points, and sophomore forward Nick Drouin (Weare, N.H.) came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points, including several key three-pointers down the stretch, to lead Keene State College to a season-opening 89-83 victory over Husson College of Maine in a first-round game of the KSC Tip-Off Tournament at Spaulding Gym on Friday night.

Keene State scored the first 16 points of the game with Anthony Licitra's (Glastonbury, Conn.) three-pointer putting the Owls up 16-0 at the 14:30 mark.  But Husson gradually chipped away at the Owls lead. Buddy Leavitt (Gulford, Me), who had 15 first half points, hit a three-pointer at the buzzer that pulled the Eagles into a halftime tie (39-all) with the Owls.  Sontag, who hit four of his five three-point attempts, had 16 first half points for Keene State.

The Owls weren't able to pull away from the stubborn Eagles until the closing minutes.  After Phillip White (Temple Hills, MD.) gave Husson its last lead (70-69) with a lay-up following at steal at the 6:39 mark, KSC put together an 8-1 run to take the lead (78-70) for good.   Drouin  hit consecutive three-pointers during the decisive run.

Freshman Tyler Kathan ( Ludlow, Vt.) had a team-high eight rebounds for the Owls.

Leavitt finished with 20 points and nine rebounds and Jason Harvey (Bucksport, Me.) had 18 points to lead Husson.

A tournament with pre-determined opponents, KSC will face Maine-Machias on Saturday at 7 p.m..  Colby-Sawyer, a 92-84 winner over Maine-Machias, will take on Husson at 5 p.m.

COLBY-SAWYER HOLDS OFF MAINE-MACHIAS 92-84

KEENE, N.H. 11/18/05 - Matt Spanos (Newport, N.H.) had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Colby-Sawyer College to a season-opening 92-84 victory over Maine-Machias in a opening-round game of the Keene State Tip-Off Tournament at Spaulding Gym on Friday night.  A tournament with pre-determined opponents, CSC will play Husson College on Satuday at 5 p.m.

James Thorpe (Concord, N.H.) and Collin Bray (Brookline, Mass.) had 15 point each, Pat Kenney Wethersfield, Conn.) added 13 points and Ducan Szeliga (Newmarket, N.H.) finished with 12 points to lead a balanced Charger attack.

Colby-Sawyer jumped out to a 44-32 halftime lead behind Spanos's 19 first half points.  The junior forward came off the bench to hit nine of his 10 shots form the field and pull down six rebounds.

Leading 21-18, the Chargers went on a 19-8 run to take their largest lead 40-26 on a layup by  Bray with 3:19 remaining. 

Jeremiah Johnson (Washington, D.C.) had 11 first half points for Maine-Machias.

Maine-Machias (0-3) opened the second half with a 21-8 run to take its first lead 53-52 on a jumper by Anthony McCoy (Dallas, TX) at the 11:50 mark. 

Colby-Sawyer came back to take back the lead.  Thorpe (Concord, N.H.) hit a layup after a steal, and Szeliga  put back Thorpe's missed free throw to give the Chargers a 79-66 lead with 4:32 to play. CSC made their free throws down the stretch to hold off the Cippers.

Johnson finished with 22 points, Charles Calligan (Manchester, Me.) had 20 points and Howard Gray pulled down 14 rebounds to lead Maine-Machias, who will play Keene State on Saturday ( 7p.m.).