'DANBURY, CT - The Keene State College men's basketball team held on to defeat Western Connecticut State University, 84, 77 at Feldman Arena Saturday afternoon.

Junior forward Nick Drouin (Weare, NH) led three Owls in double figures with 17 points as the they improved to 19-4 overall and 9-3 in the Little East Conference. Nate Anderson (Westminster, MA) and Kevin Ritter (Hopewell Junction, NY) added 16 and 14 points, respectively for the winners.

After a five-point deficit at halftime, WestConn pulled to within three points, 47-44, on a jumper by Tyshawn Gillespie (Hartford, CT) with 15:01 remaining in the game.

Keene State went on to outscore the Colonials 18-6 over the next five minutes to close out any chance of a WestConn comeback.

As they did last Tuesday against LEC frontrunner Rhode Island College, the Colonials reserves buried made the contest tight, scoring 10 of the game's final 11 points over the final 2:34.

"I thought the play of some our kids coming off the bench was the key today," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert.  "Kevin Ritter, Nick Drouin, and Brandon Robinson stepped up and gave us some big minutes."  We were able to sustain our momentum when the starters came out."

"This was our best game we've played both offensivley and defensively in the half-court," Colbert added.  "Now we just have to tie up some lose ends, and finish the season with a couple of strong games to give us a positive feeling going into the tournament."

Gillespie led WestConn with 15 points while Jamie Procino (Yorktown Heights, NY) added 12 points and had a five caroms in the loss.

WestConn travels to arch-rival Eastern Connecticut on Tuesday, February 13 for a 7:30 p.m. tip. Keene State hosts intra-state rival Plymouth State on Tuesday, also at 7:30 pm.

(Courtesy WCSU Sports Information)