KEENE, N.H. 12/4/12 – Senior Ryan Martin (Wayne, Maine) poured in a career high 35 points, but that didn't prevent the Keene State College men's basketball from losing a 70-64 non-conference game to Plattsburgh State at Spaulding Gym on Tuesday night.  It was the first meeting between the two teams.

Keene State, still searching for its first home win the season, falls to 3-3.

Martin, who had struggled to find his scoring touch most of the season, hit 12 of his 16 shots from the field, drained three of his five three-pointers and was 8-10 from the line.  "The coaching staff has been telling me to be aggressive and it's taken me awhile to find my groove," said Martin.

Martin was the Owls' offense scoring 35 of the team's 64 points.  "I was very disappointed in how we played in terms of who contributed,' said KSC Coach Rob Colbert.  "Our big men didn't do much in the way of scoring. For Martin to go off and have 35 points and for us to lose is disappointing."

Falling behind 38-34 early in the second half, Martin tried to keep his team in the game.  The Owls captain scored KSC's next 13 points, knocking down three consecutive three-pointers, an acrobatic lay-up and a jumper to give Keene State a 48-43 lead at the 11:59 mark.

Freshman Nick Gagliolo (Peabody, Mass.) hit a couple of free throws to give the Owls their last lead 53-52 with 6:29 to play.

The Cardinals went on a mini 10-2 spurt to take a 62-55 lead on a jumper by Ezra Hodgson with 3:11 to go. 

Senior Rashad Wight (Agawam, Mass.) made a jump hook to cut the lead to two points (62-60) with 1:45 to play, but Plattsburgh's Jordan Moody put the game out of reach with a three pointer from the corner that gave the Cardinals a 68-60 lead with 31 second to play.

Wright finished with a game high 15 rebounds, but had a tough time finding his shot, hitting just two of his 11 attempts from the field for five points.

Moody scored 15 points, Hodgson had 12 points and junior John Perez finished with nine points and 12 rebounds for Plattsburgh (5-2). 

Both teams had a tough time taking care of the ball, committing a combined 48 turnovers in the game.

Keene State returns to Little East Conference play on Saturday, hosting UMass-Boston. (3 p.m.).