KEENE, N.H. 2/14/12 – Juniors Chris Robitaille (Canton, Conn.) and Joe Ives (Avon, Conn.) and senior Jamie Kohn (Columbia, Conn.) combined to hit seven of eight free throws down the stretch to lead Eastern Conn. State University to a 65-62 win over Keene State College in a key Little East Conference men's basketball game before a senior night crowd of over 1,300 fans at Spaulding Gym on Tuesday night.

"We struggled and couldn't get any offensive flow going," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert.  "They did a great job of guarding (Ryan) Martin and our big men also struggled.  We have a couple of days to recoup from this, learn from this and figure out a way to get out guys open and score."

Keene State came into the game averaging a league best 84.6 points per game.

The loss drops the Owls (18-6, 10-3 LEC),who have lost two straight, back into a tie for first place in the LEC standings with the Warriors (19-5, 10-3 LEC).  Keene State will need a win at Rhode Island College on Saturday to put itself in a position to gain the top seed and host the upcoming tournament.  Multiple scenarios must also work in the Owls' favor.

Colbert started all four of his seniors; including four-year team members Steve Boudreau (North Andover, Mass.) and Cody Snow (Leyden, Mass.) and Ollie Hunter (Bedford, N.H.) and Orlando Echevarria (Chelsea, Mass.), who have been with the team the last two seasons.

A back-and forth first half that featured nine lead changes, saw the Warriors go up 30-26 room after senior Hamilton Levy (Woodbury, Conn.) hit a top of the key jumper as time expired.

Eastern Conn. briefly pulled away from the Owls midway in the half.  A three-pointer by sophomore Brian Salzillo (North Haven, Conn.) made it 47-39 at the 10:43 mark.

However, the game would go right down to the wire. After making a steal, junior Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) made a put-back lay-up to tie the game at 56-all with 3:41 to go.

A pair of foul shots by Robitaille and one by Kohn put the Warriors up 59-56 with 1:48 to play.  

Held in check most of the game, junior Ryan Martin (Wayne, Maine)  hit a pull-up jumper to cut the lead to one (59-58) with 1:35 to go.  Robitaille answered with a bucket at the other end of the court to put the Warriors up 61-58.

Martin and Kohn traded free throws making it 63-60.  Fouled trying to make a lay-up, junior Rashad Wright (Agawam, Mass.) hit two free throws that made it a one point game (63-62) with nine seconds on the clock.

Fouled in the back court, Ives went to the line and hit both of his free throw attempts to put the Warriors up 65-62 with six seconds to go.

After a time out, Martin raced up the court and launched a three-point attempt that hit off the front of the net as time expired. 

Hunter, who hit seven of his 13 shots for the field, led the Owls with 18 points, Fazio had 16 points and Martin finished with 11 points.  Wright pulled down a team high nine rebounds.

Robitaille had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds for ECSU.  Levy scored 12 points while senior Nick Nedwick (Irvington, N.Y.) finished with 10 points.

The Owls shot 41% (21-51) from the field while the Warriors went 24-63 (38%).

Both teams spent time at the line with KSC going 17-23 (74%) and ECSU hitting 15-21 (71%). The Owls edged the Warriors off the boards 39-38.

Eastern wraps up its regular season at UMass-Boston on Saturday.