KEENE, N.H. 1/31/11 –Senior forward Brad Thomka (Springfield, Mass.) scored a game-high 28 points and senior guard Chris Devine (Wilbraham, Mass.) finished with 23 points to lead a hot-shooting Western New England men's basketball team to a 95-83 victory over Keene State in a rare Monday night game at Spaulding Gym.  Thomka was 10-16 from the field and hit all seven of his free throw attempts while Devine was a perfect 10-10 from the stripe.

Sophomore guard Anthony Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) netted a season-high 25 points to lead Keene State.    

The lost snapped the Owls (14-6) four game winning streak.  The Golden Bears (2-16) had lost their last three games.

The Golden Bears came out on fire, hitting 13 of their first 15 shots (87%) on the way to jumping out to a 31-19 lead on a basket by sophomore Damon Alston (New Britain, Conn.) at the 9:18 mark.

Western New England took its biggest lead of the half (43-26) on a three-pointer by junior Andre Shaw (New York, N.Y.) with three minutes to go.  KSC outscored the Golden Bears 7-2 the rest of the way to cut its deficit to 45-33 at the break.  WNEC shot a scorching (18-29) 62% from the field (6-9) 67% from behind the arc and 75% (3-4) from the line in the first half.

The Golden Bears kept up their torrid shooting early in the second half; a driving lay-up by Thomka made it 58-40 at the 15:21 mark. Later in the half, Alston made a steal and went in for an uncontested lay-up to put WNEC up 67-49 with 9:40 to play.

The Owls made a late run to try to get back into the game. Sophomore Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) followed a steal with a slam to cut the Golden Bears lead to single digits (75-66) with 5:15 to play. In WNEC's next possession, sophomore Rashad Wright (Agawam, Mass.) had a block on one end of the court and a slam on the other to cut the lead to 75-68 with 4:40 to go. They would get no closer as WNEC held on for its second win of the season.    

Wright also finished in double-figures for KSC with 10 points.  Sophomore Nicco DeMasco (Richmond, N.H.) had a team best seven rebounds.  Sophomore Ryan Martin (Wayne, Me.) had a season high 10 assists to go with seven points.

Junior Andre Shaw (New York, N.Y.) and Alston each scored 14 points while senior Conor Lomas (Wilbraham, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points to go with a game high 14 rebounds.  For the game, WNEC shot 62 % (34-55) from the field, 53% (8-15) from behind the arc, and 86% (19-22) from the line. 

Keene State hosts Rhode Island College on Saturday.  Western New England host Eastern Nazarene on Wednesday.