Fort Lauderdale, Florida 12/18/11 – Led by a combined 49 points from juniors Ryan Martin (Wayne, Maine) and Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.), the Keene State College men's basketball team dropped Mount Saint Vincent  at the Cruizin' Classic at the Don Taft University Center on Sunday evening.

Keene State improves to 7-2 on the season, while the Dolphins, a member of the Skyline Conference, drop to 3-7.

"Those guys had great games," said KSC head coach Rob Colbert. "Fazio did a nice job of posting up and getting some solid points in transition. Ryan (Martin) was doing a nice job of getting around some screens and shot 100% from three."

Both teams were frustrated by the flow of the game, as the game had a total of 51 fouls. "I think we probably broke the Guinness Book of World Records for fouls in a game," said Colbert. "Neither team really was able to feel comfortable in the pace of play because there were so many whistles."

KSC had a slow start to the first half, falling behind by as many as twelve twice in the first half. Dolphin senior forward Cody Gauvard (Rockaway Park, N.Y.) drained a three-ball with 8:22 remaining to make it 35-23.

The Owls would finally wake up, going on a 18-2 run, with Martin hitting three from beyond-the-arc, to give the Keene State a 41-37 lead, capped by a Fazio layup with 5:19 left in the stanza.

Before the half was over, the Owls and Dolphins would trade buckets with less than 12 seconds remaining. Senior forward Derek D'Amours (Agawam, Mass.) would connect with a shot in the paint, while Mount Saint Vincent junior forward Shaquille Cunningham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) raced down the court to hit a jumper with just one second left to even the game at 53 apiece at the halftime break.

After another slow start in the second half, the Owls changed up their defense to prevail. "Their athleticism gave us problems all night," said Colbert. "We were able to make them a little less comfortable in the second half and find matchups that would actually let us guard them."

Senior guard Mark Waite's (Chicago, Illinois) three-pointer gave the Dolphins a six point advantage with 15:22 left for a 70-64 lead. KSC would fight back, on a jumper from Martin, and a dunk from D'Amours, as the Owls would even the game at 73-73 with 12:09 left.

Down the stretch the Owls proved to be too much for the Dolphins, as the tempo became more to their liking. "I think we pushed the pace better towards the end," said Colbert, " and in the end fatigue became a factor for them."

With three minutes left, Martin hit his sixth three of the game (6-of-6)¸and D'Amours slashed to the basket for another layup, as the Owls opened up the lead to as many as nine down the stretch in KSC's 106-99 win.

Martin finished with 26 points and four assists and was perfect from behind the arc. "Last year he had the best free throw percentage in Division III," joked Colbert. "Now he's going for the three's." Fazio tied his career-high with 23 points and also reaching double-digits for the Owls, D'Amours finished with 19 points and a career-high five assists. Junior center Nicco DeMasco (Richmond, N.H.) finished with six rebounds, tying the team-high with Fazio.

Cunningham finished the game with 30 points and was a matchup nightmare for the Owls. "Their athleticism gave us problems," said Colbert. "I thought in the second half we were able to zone guard a little better and make them at least a little uncomfortable." Gauvard finished with 21 points and six rebounds in the losing effort for the Dolphins.

The Owls shot an impressive 64% from three (9-of-14) and 52% (32-62) from the field in the win. On the glass, both teams pulled down 39 rebounds.

Keene State returns to action tomorrow, as they will take on host Nova Southeastern at 3 p.m. "They are a very big, very strong Division II team," said Colbert. "The key for us is getting that fast tempo we like and trying not to get into to many half court sets against them."