KEENE, N.H. 2/11/13 – Showing no signs of rust after a six day lay-off, Keene State College jumped out to an early lead and never looked back on the way to trouncing Western Conn. State University 101-71 in a Little East Conference men's basketball game played Monday night at Spaulding Gym. 

Riding a season high four game winning streak, Keene State improves to 15-8 overall and 9-3 in the LEC.  The Owls maintain their hold on third place in the conference standings.

Western Conn., which has dropped three straight, falls to 5-18 (3-9 LEC). KSC swept the season series against the Colonials, winning 85-72 in Danbury, Conn. back on Jan. 8

Senior Ryan Martin (Wayne, Maine) had the hot hand all night for the Owls, finishing with a game high 25 points.  Making the most of his 18 minutes on the court, he was 10-13 from the field and 5-6 from behind the arc. Martin said the Owls' ball movement created good looks at the basket.  "We were really unselfish and moved the ball a lot today," he said.  "That's how we have to play the rest of the year. We have so many weapons. If we can move the ball and pass like that, we're really hard to defend."

"I thought we were fresh, especially Martin.  He set the tone," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert.  He was throwing daggers at them."

Closing in on the 1,000-point career mark, senior Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) scored 15 points, leaving him just 12 points shy of the milestone. 

Senior Rashad Wright (Agawam, Mass.) and Anthony Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) each had 10 points off the bench. Freshman Bobby Crane (Cambridge, Mass.) pulled down a team high five rebounds. Wright missed the last two games with an injury.

Junior Joseph Setaro (North Haven, Conn.) finished with 16 points leading the Colonials.

Keene State jumped out to a 24-9 after Martin drained his fourth three-pointer in a span of two minutes. 

Coming back in the game, Martin capped off a 13-0 run by the Owls with a pull-up jumper in the lane that extended the lead to 39-19 at the 6:58 mark.

Martin also had the defensive play of the half. Finding himself under the basket against a taller Joseph Groski (New Milford, Conn.), Martin was able to swipe the ball away before falling back and almost hitting his head against the door at the far end of the gym.

Keene State kept its foot on the gas.  Junior Jim Hepple (Newington, Conn.) drained a three-pointer from the right corner, putting the finishing touches on a 19-6 run that gave the Owls a 59-29 halftime lead. 

Martin was on fire in the half, hitting eight of his nine attempts from the field and knocking down all four of the three-point shots for 20 first half points.

Martin wasn't the only one smoking in the scoring department.  KSC shot a scorching 23-39 (59%) from the field, connected on six of its nine three-pointers (67%) and hit all seven of its shots from the line.

There were several crowd-pleasing plays by Keene State in the second half.   Wright, who along with junior Montel Walcott (New Haven, Conn.)  made his presence felt in the paint, also had a dunk midway in the second half that put KSC up 72-33.

 Seeing some playing time, freshman Nick Gagliolo (Peabody, Mass.) had a pretty reverse lay-up making it 79-42 with 8:42 to play. Later in the half, Crane delivered a nice bounce pass to Hepple heading to the hoop. Hepple hit the lay-up and the subsequent free throw. 

Keene State hit the century mark for the second times this season when junior Sean Walker (Bridgeport, Conn.) hit a lay-up with 1:12 remaining. 

The Owls appear to peaking at just the right time. "This is the time of season to get hot," said Martin.  All you have to do is win three games in the tournament to get to the NCAAs. We're trying to get hot at right time."

"We tried to set a goal today of sharing the basketball," said Colbert.  "I like where we're heading."

Keene State shot 40-70 (57%) from the field, hit 50% (10-20) of its three-point shots and went 11-14 (79%) from the line.

Keene State hits the road for a key LEC game at Eastern Conn. on Wednesday (7:30 p.m.).