BOSTON, MASS. 1/26/13 – Senior Ryan Martin (Wayne, Me.) scored 23 points and senior Anthony Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) came off the bench to finish with 22 points to lead the Keene State College men's basketball team to a 91-82 Little East Conference victory over UMass-Boston on Saturday. 

Martin (9-10) and Mariano (10-12) were a combined 19-22 from the charity stripe for KSC.  Senior Rashad Wright (Agawam, Mass.) and junior Montel Walcott (New Haven, Conn.) each pulled down seven rebounds.  Walcott also scored a season high 11 points. 

Sophomore Vinny DeLucia (Miami, Fla.) had a game high 26 points and junior Rahshjeem Benson (Boston, Mass.) had a game best 13 rebounds to lead the Beacons.

Coaches at the game, played at recently refurbished Clark Athletic Arena, wore sneakers as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer weekend to support Cancer research around the country.  

Winners of three of their last four games, the Owls (11-7, 6-3 LEC) maintain their hold on fourth place in the LEC standings and a home first-round tournament game.  UMass-Boston (9-10, 3-6) has lost its last three games.

Keene State came off the bus on fire, taking an early 13-2 lead on a well-executed pick-and -roll play by sophomore Tom Doyle (Wallingford, Conn.) and Wright.  Later in the half, Mariano drained back-to-back three-pointers. He then found Walcott running the floor for a lay-up that put KSC up 25-13 at the 9:30 mark.

UMB used full court pressure to temporally get back in the game. However, Martin heated up in the final minutes of the half, scoring six straight points, the final basket coming on a three-pointer that made it a 43-35 game with 2:08 to go. 

The Owls went to the locker room with a 45-31 lead.

It was all Keene State for the first 10 minutes of the second half.  Passing and moving without the ball, KSC got great looks at the basket.   Martin and freshman Tre'Tipton (Stanford, Conn.) hit consecutive three-pointers to put KSC up 53-35.  A few minutes later, Walcott slammed home a missed shot by senior Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) and then then had a tip-in to make it 57-40. 

Driving lay-ups by Mariano and freshman Jesse LaCroix (Orange, Mass.) put the finishing touches on an 11-0 run that pushed Keene State's lead up to 24 points (64-40) at the 13:10 mark.

Keene State had a hard time putting the Beacons away. UMB closed the gap to 11 points (76-65) on a jumper by DeLucia with 5:28 remaining, but the Owls were able fight off the Beacons and hold on for the win.

Fazio also finished with 11 points for the Owls, who swept the season series against UMB, defeating the Beacons 80-76 back at Spaulding Gym.

UMass-Boston had a 45-36 rebound advantage.

Keene State shot 30-66 (46%) from the field and hit eight of its 19 three-point shots (42%).  Both teams lived at the line in the foul-plagued game.  Keene State went 23-30(77%) while UMB was 23-33 (70%).

Keene State is at Middlebury College on Tuesday (7 p.m.).