KEENE, N.H. 1/16/14-  Not satisfied  scoring a  career high  25 points against Castleton State on Jan. 5, junior Tom Doyle added  a few more points to that mark, upping his career best to 28 points to lead the Keene State College men's basketball team to a 91-79 non-conference win over Fitchburg State University Thursday night at Spaulding Gym.

Doyle wasn't the only Owl to hit a milestone.  Freshman Jeff Lunn (Nashua, N.H.) came off the bench to score a season high 16 points.  "I just was finding my spots in the middle of the zone," said Lunn, who also had five rebounds and a couple assists.  "I'm just trying to find my role on the team."

Keene State overcame an impressive shooting performance by Falcon senior guard Mike Ingram-Rubin, (Boston, Mass.) who finished with a game high 33 points.

Putting together two straight wins for the second time this season, the Owls improve to 5-8.  Fitchburg State falls to 1-12.

"It wasn't pretty, but I thought we did enough good things to win," said KSC Coach Rob Colbert.  "Mike Ingram-Rubin is special, but I though Lucas (Hammel) wore him down a little bit and made him work" 

"I was happy because it was a dangerous game wedged in between two conference games," Colbert added.  "They don't look how you did it .They just look to see if you did it."

Doyle didn't waste any time making his presence felt in the game. He scored 13 of the Owls' first 19 points, giving KSC an early 19-11 lead with a fast-break lay-up at the 12:11 mark. 

Breaking the Falcons' press, sophomore Nick Gagliolo (Peabody, Mass.) made a conventional three-point play, giving the Owls their biggest lead of the half (28-14) with 9:08 to go.

Fitchburg gradually cut into the Owls' lead. Ingram-Rubin went to work.  He had 22 of the Falcons' first 30 points, including a three-pointer that cut the lead to 34-30 with 1:44 to play in the half.

In a first half dual, Doyle scored 17 points while Ingram-Rubin, who knocked down five three-pointers, countered with 24 points as KSC had to settle for a 39-35 halftime lead.  

After FSU got the lead down to two points (39-37), KSC pulled away again.   Sophomore Nate Howard (Cheshire, Conn.), who notched his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 15 rebounds as well as four blocks,  scored a couple of inside hoops and freshmen Lucas Hamel (Methuen, Mass.) and Lunn hit  put-back shots, giving the Owls a 53-42 lead at the 15:24 mark.

The game turned into a track met with both teams racing up-and-down the floor.  A top-of-the-key jumper by freshman Jaquel Edwards (Manchester, Conn.) gave the Owls a 65-49 lead midway in the second half. 

Sophomore Tre' Tipton (Stamford, Conn.) and Howard hooked up for one of the prettier hoops of the game.  After making a steal, Tipton flipped the ball ahead to Howard who hit a lay-up, putting the Owls up 70-55 with 7:35 to play.  It was one of Tipton's eight assists in the game (one shy of his career high.) Hammel also dished out seven assists.

After making a steal in the back court, Doyle came down and hit a jumper, making it 83-68 with 2:42 to play.   FSU made things interesting, cutting the lead to eight points (87-79) on a lay-up by sophomore Anthony Muccioli (Nashua, N.H.) with 1:11 on the clock.  Freshman Matt Ozzella (Medway, Mass.) hit a couple of free throws in the closing seconds helping KSC hang on for the win.

Edwards also scored in double figures with 10 points for Keene State.

Junior Malcolm Dixon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished with 21 points and senior Mo Molin (Brockton, Mass.) pulled down a team high nine rebounds for Fitchburg.

KSC shot 37-86 (43%) from the field, but his just three of it 19 shots from behind the arc (16%).  They went 14-21 at the line (67%).  However, they did win the battle of the boards 53-41.

The Falcons scored 22 of their points (22-31, 71%) at the free throw line.

After playing five straight games at home, Keene State hits the road on Saturday, returning to Little East Conference play with a game at UMass-Dartmouth  (3 p.m.).