GORHAM, Maine  1/29/11 –   It was Ollie Hunter to the rescue.  The junior forward from Bedford, N.H. and Bishop Guertin High school scored 17 points on an outstanding 8-for-12 effort from the floor to lead the Keene State College Owls to a 72-67 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium in Gorham, Maine.

With its fourth straight win, Keene State improves to 14-5 overall and 6-3 in the Little East.  Southern Maine falls to 9-10 and 1-8 in the conference.

Hunter scored eight of his 17 points in the final five minutes of the game as Keene State pulled away from Southern Maine for the win.  "I had a rough first half with foul trouble and came out in the second half really focused," said Hunter.

 "Ollie got us some big stops and a couple of big scores," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert about Hunter's late game performance.  "We were sleep-walking though three-quarters of the game and I though he carried us down the stretch."

Sophomore guard Ryan Martin (Wayne, Maine/Maranacook) added 13 points for the Owls while sophomore forward Nicco DeMasco (Richmond, N.H./Monadnock Regional) added eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.  Junior forwards Cody Snow (Leyden, Mass./Pioneer Regional) and Derek D'Amours (Agawam, Mass.) and sophomore forward Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, Vt./Our Lady of Lords) each scored seven points.

Senior guard Devin Chambers (Memphis, Tenn./Oak Hill) led four USM players in double-figures with 15 points and four assists.  Senior forward Otis Smith (Altamonte Springs, Fla./Ocoee) added 12 points and junior guards Mike Poulin (Readfield, Maine/Maranacook) and Chris Pagentine (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) chipped in with 11 points each.

With the score tied at 63 with 4:35 to play, Hunter snapped the 13th tie score of the game with a lay-up in traffic to give the Owls a 65-63 lead with 3:44 to play.  With missed chances at both ends of the court, Hunter again scored a lay-up to put the Owls ahead 67-63 with 1:51 remaining.  Southern Maine junior forward Jeremy Jackson (Laplace, La./Independence) pulled the Huskies to within two, 67-65, with 1:32 to play, but KSC's Martin drilled a three as the shot clocked sounded to put the game out of reach 70-65, with 20 seconds to play.  Jackson scored again for the Huskies on an offensive rebound but forced to foul, USM put D'Amours on the line and he sank both free throws for the final. 

Keene State hosts Western New England College on Monday (7:30 p.m.).