KEENE, N.H. 1/11/14 –  The Keene State College men's basketball team dropped a 95-69 Little East Conference game to Rhode Island College at Spaulding Gym on Saturday.

The Owls, who have lost three of their last four games, fall to 3-8 (1-2 LEC).  Rhode Island College, who has won four of its last five games, improves to 8-5 (2-1 LEC).

"It wasn't the outcome we wanted, but I thought we competed relatively well for a good portion of the game. But that's not the goal," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert. "We missed a lot of easy baskets  that really hurt and we gave up a lot of interior baskets.  We have to have a little bit more toughness defensively.  Giving up 52 points in the first half isn't   what we're looking for."

 Junior Tom Doyle (Wallingford, Conn.) scored 19 points and sophomore center Nate Howard (Cheshire, Conn.) registered his fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Owls. He also had five blocks in the game.

Freshman Austin Cilley (Westerly, R.I.) scored a game high 26 points and to lead the Anchormen.

RIC jumped out to a 10-0 lead on a basket by senior Tom DeCiantis (North Kingstown, R.I.).

KSC got back into the game.  Doyle hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 16-11.

Falling behind 30-18 after three-pointer by Cillley, KSC once again fought back.   Sophomore Tre' Tipton (Stamford, Conn.) scored five straight points to cut the lead to four points (31-27) at the 6:51 mark.

The game of streaks saw the Anchormen go back up by 11(47-36) on a transition lay-up by senior Michael Palumbo (Providence, R.I.) with 1:30 to go in the half. 

Cilley knocked down a three-pointer in the closing seconds to give RIC a 52-38 halftime lead.  

Coming out of the break, KSC scored six straight points to make it 52-44.

However, the Anchormen opened up a 14 point lead (62-48) following a three-pointer by DeCiantis at the 12:53 mark.    KSC couldn't make a dent into the lead.  A jumper by Cilley gave RIC a 74-55 lead with 7:05 remaining.

 Tipton finished the game with 11 points for the Owls, who shot 22-73 (30%) from the field, 5-18 (28%) behind the arc, and 20-28 (71%) from the line.  Freshman Jaquel Edwards (Manchester, Conn.) also had a season high 13 rebounds.

Junior Victor Smith (Providence, R.I.) and junior Chris Burton (New Rochelle, N.Y.) had 16 and 15 points respectively for RIC.  Burton had a team high nine rebounds.

 KSC had a slim 46-45 advantage on the boards, but had the better of the offensive rebounds 19-8.

 RIC had a 16-7 lead in points off of turnovers. The Anchormen's' bench also outscored KSC's bench 39-16.

Both teams will be home for LEC games on Tuesday.  Keene State hosts Western Conn. and RIC plays Southern Maine.  Both games start at 7:30 p.m.