KEENE, N.H. 2/20/10 - Sophomore forward Derek D'Amours (Agawam, Mass.) scored a career high 41 points,  but  a late game come back by Keene State fell  short as the Owls  dropped their final home regular season game of the year, 105-93 to UMass-Dartmouth at Spaulding Gym on Saturday.

Despite the outcome of the game, Keene State (13-12, 6-8 LEC) was locked into the sixth spot in the LEC standings and will travel to third seed Eastern Conn. on Tuesday for a first-round game. With the win, UMass-Dartmouth (17-8, 9-5 LEC) secures the fourth seed and will host fifth seed Plymouth State in a quarterfinal game.  It's the first time since 2000 that KSC will be away from Spaulding Gym for a quarterfinal contest.

"I thought we fought really hard, but we were physically overmatched," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert.  I'm proud of the way the kids came back.  We just had some untimely turnovers that they capitalized on."

"We would have liked to go into the tournament with some momentum. We had four tough games at the end of the season. But we take stock in the fact that we can beat anybody.  Because we score a lot teams don't want to face us."  

The Corsairs raced out to an early lead, going up 22-13 on a transition dunk by sophomore center Lance Greene (Dorchester, Mass.)  A lay-up by junior forward Kyle Yeadon (Hanson, Mass.) later in the half extended UMD's lead to 16 points (38-22) with 6:10 to go in the half. They would take a 50-35 lead into the locker room.     

DAmours scored 28 of his 41 points in the second half to lead the Owls' comeback. Trailing by 21 points (67-46), KSC used a 20-2 run to cut the Corsairs lead to three points (71-68) on a pair of free throws by freshman guard Anthony Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) with 9:12 to play.  D'Amours had 10 of the Owls' points in the run.

"The guys fought back, but we just came up a little short, said D'Amours , who  was 13-19 from the field, 5-8 from behind the arc, and 10-12 from the line." It would have been nice to enter the tournament with a win, but everyone starts with a clean slate and we'll see what happens."

Using its quickness and athleticism, UMass-Dartmouth regrouped and built their lead back up to 14 points (89-75) on a lay-up by junior forward Brandon Stephens (Dorchester, Mass.) with 4:21 to play. 

Mariano scored 16 to go with a team high nine rebound while sophomore forward Cody Snow (Leyden, Mass.) finished with 12 points and six assists.

Stephens led a balanced Corsair attack with 23 points.  

Greene had 21 points to go with a game high 14 rebounds.  Sophomore guard Paul Rose (Boston, Mass.) added 15 points while sophomore guard Alex Klepadlo (Bernardston, Mass.), senior guard Tyler Turtoro (Shelton, Conn.), and sophomore guard Steve Ramos (Lynn, Mass.) each finished with 11 points.

Both teams shot well from the field (KSC: 33-63-52%; UMD 34-69-49%).  However, the Corsairs struggled at the line, hitting 28 of 46 attempts (61%).  The two teams combined for 57 turnovers. 

UMD, which defeated KSC 93-74 earlier this season in North Dartmouth, swept the season series between the two teams.