KEENE, N.H. 1/31/13 – The Keene State College men's basketball team placed five players in double figures on the way to posting a 110-64 non-conference victory over the College of St. Joseph's (Vt.) at Spaulding Gym on Thursday night. 

Ironically, it was the highest point total and largest margin of victory for the Owls since seven years ago to the day, when Keene State defeated Mitchell (Conn.) College 116-57 at Spaulding Gym back on Jan. 31, 2006.

Senior Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) led a balanced Owl (12-8) offense with 15 points.  Junior Sean Walker (Bridgeport, Conn.) had a career high 13 points, Ryan Martin (Wayne, Maine) added 11 points and Senior Anthony Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) and junior Montel Wolcott (New Haven, Conn.) each finished with 10 points. Walcott pulled down a team high 10 rebounds to notch his first double-double of his career. All active members on the team scored at least one point in the victory.

Junior Ramel Anderson (Roosevelt, N.Y.) had a game high 20 points and freshman Casey Hall (Albany, N.Y.) finished with 16 points and a game best 11 rebounds for the Fighting Saints (9-13). 

Keene State jumped out to an early 22-10 lead on a rare three-pointer by junior Jim Hepple (Newington, Conn.) (One of his two in the game). The Fighting Saints cut the Owls' lead to four points (32-28) on a trey by Anderson, who had 16 first half points for the College of St. Joseph.

The Owls pulled away again using a 13-2 run to go 45-30.  After making a steal, freshman Tre'Tipton (Stamford, Conn.), who had six assists, fed Fazio for a breakaway hoop, two of his 11 first half points.  Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) capped the run, making three free throws after he was fouled attempting a three-pointer. Walcott hit a put-back at the buzzer to give KSC a 50-34 halftime lead. 

"After coming off a tough loss to Middlebury, Coach (Rob) Colbert wanted us to push the ball. We wanted to push the intensity, said Fazio.  "Jesse (Lacroix), Tre', and Martin all found me, so I had a good night."

"We were focused on pushing the ball, getting the ball up the floor and getting it inside to our bigs," said LaCroix.

KSC maintained its lead early in the second half by picking up the pace. Freshman Jesse LaCroix (Orange, Mass.) found a streaking Fazio for a lay-up.  In the Owls' next possession LaCroix did the honors, hitting a lap to put KSC 62-41 at the 14:37 mark.  Senior Rashad Wright (Agawam, Mass.) finished off the 10-0 spurt with one of his patented jump hooks that put the Owls up 66-41 with 13:20 to play.

"Our team morale was a little low after the loss to Middlebury," said Fazio. "This win boosted our confidence. Everybody on the team scored, so this should help us out a lot."

Keene State had a strong shooting night, hitting 41-77 (53%) from the field and nine of its 19 (47%) three-point attempts.  The Owls also dominated the boards 51-38.

Keene State is at Southern Maine on Saturday (3 p.m.).

"Saturday's a big game for us," said LaCroix.  "We're fighting for spots in the tournament.  They (Southern Maine) came on our floor and beat us. They embarrassed us a little bit, so we got some payback to do."