NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA 1/12/08-The Keene State men's basketball team saw its upset bid against undefeated and No. 19 ranked University of Massachusetts Dartmouth fall short with a tough 100-97 loss at Tripp Athletic Center on Saturday. 

The Corsairs scored nine of the first 11 points in overtime and held off the Owls.

The Corsairs, who had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation time, used a layup by senior forward Cory Tynes, three free throws and a layup by sophomore guard Jeff Macchi, and a jumper by senior guard A.J. Tavares to seize a 91-84 advantage with 2:10 to play in the extra period. UMass Dartmouth converted seven free throws in the final 1:36 to preserve their advantage, and got an offensive rebound and layup from Tynes after a missed free throw with 1:04 remaining to keep their lead at seven points.

The Owls kept the outcome in doubt until the final buzzer. Travon Little and Anthony Licitra made layups with under a minute to go, and Licitra's three-pointer with 26 seconds remaining cut the Corsairs' advantage to 99-97. After a turnover, Licitra missed another trey, and Macchi grabbed the rebound and made one of two free throws. The Owls got the ball down court, and Tyler Kathan's missed three-pointer was grabbed off the backboard by freshman forward Brandon Stephens as time expired. 

UMass Dartmouth made 50 per cent of their shots in the first half en route to a 48-33 halftime lead. But Keene State came back, outscoring the Corsairs, 27-11 at the beginning of the second half to take a 60-59 lead on Shiwon Davis' three-pointer with 12:06 to play. UMass Dartmouth used a three-pointer and a layup by Tynes to take an 82-77 lead with 2:34 remaining in regulation, but KSC got a free throw from Travon Little to tie the game with 23 seconds remaining. The Corsairs called time out, but Tavares' driving layup missed just before the buzzer sounded.

Macchi led all scorers with 24 points, Tynes and Stephens each had 14, senior center Dan Holbrook contributed 13, and Tavares added 12. Little had 21 points to lead the Owls, Tyler Kathan added 19, Nate Anderson scored 11 and Licitra had 10. Macchi grabbed nine rebounds and Freeman had eight assists, but Kathan grabbed 13 rebounds, Little 12 and Anderson 10 as KSC out rebounded the Corsairs, 54-35 but turned the ball over 22 times to 11 for UMass Dartmouth.

The Corsairs improved to 13-0 and 3-0 in the Little East Conference with the victory, while the Owls fell to 7-6 and 1-2 with the defeat.

Keene State will visit LEC foe Western Connecticut State Tuesday night.