KEENE, N.H. 1/28/12 – Junior Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) scored 20 points, hitting 10 of his 12 shots from the line, and added nine rebounds to lead the Keene State College men's basketball team to a 86-70 victory over UMass-Boston in a Little East Conference game played at Spaulding Gym on Saturday.

The Owls (14-4, 8-1 LEC), who extend their winning streak to a season high five games, also add to their lead in the LEC conference with Eastern Conn. dropping a 66-48 game to Rhode Island College.  UMass-Boston, which has dropped its last seven games, falls to 5-14 and 1-9 in the LEC.

Fazio led a balanced Owl offense.  Juniors Ryan Martin (Wayne, Me.) and Anthony Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) also finished in double figures.  Martin had 14 points while Mariano netted 12 points.  Junior Nicco DeMasco (Richmond, N.H.) chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds.

Senior Isaac Jenkins (Pordenone, Italy) and freshman Vinny DeLucia (Miami, Fla.) each finished with 13 points leading the Beacons.  Sophomore Kadeem Coulter (Boston, Mass.) pulled down eight rebounds.

Falling behind by 11 points (24-13) after a jumper by freshman Carl Joseph (Brockton, Mass.), Keene State used its running game to cut into the Beacons' lead.

Fast break baskets by freshman Tom Doyle (Wallingford, Conn.) and Fazio, who had 10 first half points, got the Owls within two points 26-24 at the 6:16 mark of the first half.

"Coach Colbert has us do drills in practice to get up the court faster and we knew we could out run them," said Fazio.  "That was one of our goals for this game." 

"Our big guys run the floor as well as any in the league," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert. "We were able to get some easy looks and thing loosened up a little bit."

DeLucia, who had 13 first half points, drained his third three-pointer of the half to give the Beacons a 42-40 lead.  Martin hit two free throws in KSC's next possession to knot the game at 42-all at the half.

Both team shot well in the first half.  UMB was 15-27 (56%) while KSC hit half of its shots (13-26, 50%).

Keene bolted out of the break with nine unanswered points, taking a 51-42 lead on a corner jumper by Martin and a couple of free throws by Mariano four minutes into the half. The 5-9 Martin also tuned a fine defensive play, racing down the court to contest the 6-5 Joseph who missed the lay-up and follow-up attempt. "I take a lot of pride in my defense especially against a team like this that has so many offensive weapons," said Martin.  "If my shots aren't dropping, I try to step up and help the team out and if its defense then that's what it has to be."

 A jump hook by junior Rashad Wright (Agawam, Mass.) and a lay-up by DeMasco, following a steal by sophomore Jim Hepple (Newington, Conn.), pushed the Owls' lead to 11 points (58-47) with 9:16 to go. A crowd-pleasing put-back slam by Wright after a miss shot made it 63-54.

KSC put the game away in the final minutes of play.  Mariano went around a screen and hit a lay-up and while going down Fazio banked a shot off the glass to give the Owls a 78-62 lead. 

KSC finished the game shooting 48% (28-58) from the field. The Owls had a good day at the line, hitting 28 of their 32 shots.  The Beacons shot 41% from the field (24-58) and connected on seven of its attempts from behind the arc (49%).

Keene State won the battle off the glass 39-31. The Owls swept the season series, winning 89-65 earlier this season in Boston.

Keene State gets set to host Middlebury College, the top-team in the D3Hoops.com poll on Tuesday (7 p.m.). The Beacons entertain Rhode Island College next Saturday.