'KEENE, N.H.  2/20/07 - Senior guard David Sontag (Mont Vernon, N.H.) scored a season high 25 points, hitting 11 of 12 free throws, to lead the second seeded Keene State College men's basketball team to a 98-86 Little East Conference Tournament quarterfinal victory over rival and seventh seed Plymouth State University in Keene on Tuesday.

Winners of five straight, Keene State (22-4) will face sixth seed UMass-Boston in a semifinal game at top seed R.I. College.  UMB upset third seed Western Conn. 88-82.

Nate Anderson (Westminster, Mass.), Tyler Kathan (Ludlow, Vt.) and Travon Little (Danbury, Conn.) finished with 13 points each.  Anderson and Kathan had a team high seven rebounds.

The Panthers, who controlled play most of the first half, took a seven point lead (29-22) on a drive by Phil Bourassa (Old Orchard Beach, Me.) with 5:55 to play in the first half.   A 12-2 run, capped by a three-pointer by Nick Drouin (Weare, N.H.) gave KSC a 34-31 lead with 2:10 to play.   Little (Danbury, Conn.) hit a lay-up in the closing seconds to give the Owls a 44-37 halftime lead.

Little brought the KSC fans to their feet early in the second half when he took a pass from Sontag and converted a one handed alee-oop. Little was fouled on the play and also hit the free throw.  KSC pulled away from there.  A fade-away jumper by Kevin Ritter (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.), and a pair of free throws by Sontag pushed the Owls' lead up to 67-53 with 10:32 to play. 

The upset-minded Panthers put together a 7-0 run to cut the Owls lead to seven points (72-65) on a hoop by Ben Huntington (Hampstead, N.H.) with 7:02 to go.

 Sontag went to work for the Owls.  The Owls senior captain buried four consecutive treys to give KSC an 84-69 lead with 4:03 to play.

"David has the range to break open a game," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert.  "He wants the basketball when the game is on the line."

Panther senior Mike Walcek (Dover, N.H.) had 20 points and seven rebounds and Jason O'Keefe (Everett, Mass.) had 17 points to lead PSC, which completes its season with a 10-14 record.

KSC won all three games against the Panthers this season.