'KEENE, N.H. 1/28/06 - David Sontag (Mont Vernon, N.H.)
scored 22 points, including four three-pointers, and pulled down
eight rebounds to lead the Keene State College men's basketball
team to a 80-67 Little East Conference win over
UMass-Dartmouth at Spualding Gym on Saturday.
With the win, KSC (13-5, 7-2 LEC) remains tied for the top spot
in the LEC with UMass-Boston, which defeated Western Connecticut
(92-89) on Saturday. UMass-Dartmouth drops to 11-8 (4-5 LEC).
Nate Anderson (Westminster, Mass.), who hit 10-of-11 free
throws, came off the bench to score 16 points. Sean Sullivan
(Athol, Mass.) finished with 12 points and seven rebounds for KSC.
Keene State didn't pull away from the Corsairs until late in the
second half. After a three-pointer by Devon Maiorano
(Rehoboth, Mass.) made it 67-63, Sontag help engineer a 10-3 run by
the Owls. Sontag hit a three-pointer off a turnover and then
fed Matt Hickey (Mahopac, N.Y.) on a back door pass to put KSC up
74-63 with 2:01 to play.
KSC Coach Rob Colbert was proud of his team's defensive stand
late in the game. "We dug in a little bit and ended some
possessions," he said. Under that situation, it was very
tough, chippy game for us to keep our heads, I was proud of how we
responded."
Keene State jumped out to an early 19-5 first half lead with
Sontag, who finished with 14 first half points, hitting 3
three-points during the stretch. The Owls, who led by as many
as 16 points (35-19) in the first half , saw their lead cut to six
points (39-33) on consecutive three-pointers and a pair of free
throws by Stephane Abelard (Brocton, Mass.) with 1:47 to play in
the first half . KSC scored the last six points of the half
to take a 45-33 lead.
Aberlard finished with 22 points, Reece Freeman (Cambridge,
Mass.) had 13 points, and Dan Holbrook (Lexington, Mass.) added 10
points and 10 rebounds for the Corsairs.
Keene State, which edged UMD 83-82 earlier this season in North
Dartmouth, swept the season series against the Corsairs.
Keene State hosts Mitchell College in a non-conference game on
Tuesday (7:30 p.m.).
