PROVIDENCE, R.I. 1/12/13 – Junior Tom DeCiantis (North Kingstown, R.I.) buried a deep three-point basket from the top of the circle with 2.7 seconds to play to give Rhode Island College a 58-55 Little East Conference men's basketball victory over Keene State College at the Murray Athletic Center on Saturday.

With the loss, Keene State falls to 8-6 (3-2 LEC) while Rhode Island College, which moves into a tie for first place in the LEC with Southern Maine and Eastern Conn., improves to 12-2 (4-1 LEC).

The game between the two LEC rivals came down to the final minute of play.   Sophomore Chris Burton (New Rochelle, N.Y.) hit an open jumper from the right side to give RIC a 55-52 lead at the 1:07 mark.

Fouled going to the basket, senior Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y) stepped to the line and hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to two points (55-53).

Senior Anthony Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.), who scored his 1,000th career point in the opening minutes of the game, made a steal giving the ball back to the Owls.

Following a timeout, Mariano, who scored a game-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds and four steals, hit a lay-up on the inbounds play to tie the score at 55-all with 19.8 seconds to go.

With time running down on the shot clock, DeCiantis, who scored eight points in the game, pulled up and hit the go-ahead basket.

Taking the ball out-of–bounds under the RIC basket, junior John Boyatsis (Dover, N.H.) attempted to get the ball to one of the Owl shooters, but his pass to midcourt was intercepted as time expired.

The loss put a damper on Mariano's milestone.  The senior got his 1,000th career point at the 13:55 mark of the first half when he made a steal and went in for an uncontested lay-up. Mariano becomes the 29th KSC men's basketball player to reach the milestone. He joins teammate Ryan Martin (Wayne, Me.), who accomplished the feat earlier in the season.

Up 24-21 at the half, the Owls held onto the lead until DeCiantis knocked down a three-pointer to make it 39-36 midway in the second half.  No more than four points separated the two teams, leading up to the final minute of play.

Eleven of the last 19 games between KSC and RIC have been decided by five points or less.

In addition to Mariano, senior Rashad Wright (Agawam, Mass.) also finished in double figures with 15 points to go with nine rebounds and three blocks. Martin, the top scorer in the LEC was held to four points.

Senior Steven Roberts (New Haven, Conn.) lead RIC in scoring with 18 points. Mike Neal (Pawtucket, R.I.) had 10 points and nine rebounds while senior Tahrike Carter (Brooklyn, N.Y.) dished out 10 assists for the Anchormen.

Keene State shot 19-51 (37%) from the field, including 4-12 (33%) from behind the arc and 13-18 (72%) from the line.

RIC was 23-54 (43%) from the field, 3-13 shooting three-pointers and 9-13 (69%) from the line. 

Keene State is at Plymouth State University on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.).