KEENE, N.H. 11/19/11 – Led by Most Valuable Player Derek D'Amours' (Feeding Hills, Mass.) 33 points and the squad's much improved defensive intensity in the second half, the Keene State College Owls improved to 3-0 with a 75-54 victory over Saint Lawrence University on day two of the 12 Annual KSC men's basketball tip-off classic on Saturday night at Spaulding Gymnasium.

The Saints drop their first contest of the season, and fall to 2-1 early in the campaign.

Trailing by one at the half, Keene State kicked it into high gear in the second half, playing better defense and pressuring the ball to play the game on their terms.

"I thought in the first half Saint Lawrence did a nice job of playing their game," said KSC head coach Rob Colbert. "In the second half, we played our style of basketball with high intensity and pressure and things started to go our way."

"Our team has to live off defense," said junior point guard Ryan Martin (Wayne, Maine). "We knew that once we could get up and establish tempo that we would be tough to beat. Hopefully at the end of the year we can look back on this win as a real positive for us because it is a great win."

D'Amours' up and under layup with 15:05 in the second-half gave the Owls a 41-39 lead, and the home team never looked back. Establishing full-court pressure, Keene State forced 20 turnovers and blew the game wide-open. "I think it shows we have grown as a team," said junior center Rashad Wright (Agawam, Mass.). "Maybe last year we don't win this game, but we have grown as a team, we trust each other more and we stepped it up."

Wright gave the home-team their first double-digit lead of the contest with a fade-away turnaround jumper with 10:15 left to make it 53-43. "I though Rashad showed flashes of what he is capable of," said Colbert. "Tonight was the first game we had some consistent play inside and we were very productive in the paint."

The Owls took their biggest lead of the game with 2:45 left, on a no-look, cross-court pass from junior Anthony Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) to D'Amours who drained a three-pointer to make it 72-50.

KSC controlled the pace early in the first-half, D'Amours drilled his first of four three-balls in the first half, to give KSC their largest lead of the stanza at 16-12 with 12:40 left.

After a D'Amours layup gave KSC a 20-17 lead, the Saints went on a 12-0 scoring run, capped by a layup by Janpeter Brase (Lake Wylie, South Carolina) with 5:02 to play to make it 29-20.

Junior forward Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) ended the Owls 5:26 scoring drought with a baseline jumper with 4:49 to play.

A rejuvenated KSC stormed back, finishing the half on a 12-3 run of their own, capped by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from junior guard Geoff Woodberry (Hyde Park, Mass.). After a Saint's miss down the other end, Martin raced up the court into the paint, drawing the Saint Lawrence defenders and dishing to a wide-open Woodberry for the trey to cut the Saint's lead to 33-32.

Fazio was the only other Owl to register double-0figures in points with 11 on the game. Wright finished with eight points and five rebounds, while Martin had seven points, five assists and three rebounds.

The Saints were led by Ralph Temgoua (Paris, France) and his 16 points, game-high seven rebounds and four assists. Guards Terry Parham (Petersburg, Virginia) and Kyle Miller (Central Square, N.Y.) each contributed eight points in the losing effort.

The Owls return to action on Tuesday, as they will travel to MCLA for a 7 p.m. tip-off.

All-Classic Team
Mike Dias - Colby Sawyer
Timmy Mains - University of New England
Al Jones - Saint Lawrence
Ralph Temgoua - Saint Lawrence
Eric Fazio - Keene State

Most Valuable Player
Derek D'Amours - Keene State