'GORHAM, Maine  1/13/07--  Junior forward Nick Drouin (Weare, N.H./JohnStark) scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds andsophomore forward Tyler Kathan (Ludlow, Vt./Springfield) added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Keene State College Owls to an 81-56 Little East Conference win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies Tuesday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium on the Gorham campus.

 With the win Keene State remains undefeated in the Little East with a 5-0 mark and improve to 13-1 overall, earning its ninth consecutive victory.  Suffering their fifth consecutive loss, the Huskies dip to 4-10 overall and remain winless in the conference at 0-5.

"We used the same recipe as the past few games," said KSC Rob Colbert.  "We got the ball inside and used our press to wear them down.  "It's a good LEC road win and we now move on to play Eastern Conn. on Tuesday."

Kathan and Drouin were the only two Owls players to score in double-figures as Keene State used a well-balanced attack to down Southern Maine.  Junior guard Anthony Licitra (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) and sophomore center Eric Malkowski (Warwick, R.I./The Prout School) each scored eight points while junior guard David Sontag (Mount Vernont, N.H./Souhegan) added seven points, five

rebounds, two assists and two steals.

 Junior forward Drew Coppenrath (Barnet, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy)paced Southern Maine with 14 points and six rebounds.  Sophomore guard Martin Jordan (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Hollywood Hills) chipped in with nine points off of the bench.

Kathan scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the opening half as the Owls jumped out to a commanding 40-26 lead at the break.  The Owls outscored Southern Maine 15-5 in the opening five minutes of the game and led by 18 points, 29-11, following a three-pointer from Sontag

at 8:16 of the first half.

Southern Maine cut the Keene State lead to 11, 37-26, with 2:34 left in the using an 8-2 run keyed by a pair of three-pointers from Coppenrath and freshman guard John Sewall (Bath, Maine/Cheverus), but the Owls scored the final three points of the half to regain a 14-point

advantage heading into the second half.

Both teams traded baskets in the opening four minutes of the second stanza, before Keene State held Southern Maine scoreless for a six-minute stretch to lead 67-35 with 8:22 remaining.  The Huskies were never closer than 25 points the rest of the way as the Owls used stifling defensive pressure to hold Southern Maine to just seven second

half field goals.

Keene State won the battle on the boards with a dominated 55-39 advantage on the glass, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds in the game. The Owls finished the game shooting 38.2 percent (26-for-68) from the field and 74.3 percent (26-for-35) from the free throw line. Southern Maine shot just 27 percent (17-for-63) from the field.

Keene State returns to action on Tuesday (January 16) when it hostsEastern Connecticut at 7:30 p.m. in an LEC contest.  Southern Maine hosts Plymouth State University for an LEC match up on the same date and time.

(Courtesy USM Sports Information)