KEENE, N.H.--A furious comeback fell a little bit short as the Keene State College men's basketball lost a non-conference game to Plattsburgh State University, 99-94 on New Year's Eve at Spaulding Gym.

The Owls' season opening eight game win streak was snapped, while the Cardinals improve to 6-2.  
Jeff Lunn and Jaquel Edwards each had a double-double for the Owls;  Lunn led KSC with 16 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, while Edwards had 12 points and 13 boards.  Nate Howard and Paul Emdin each chipped in 11 points, while Tom Doyle and Dizel Wright added 10 apiece as KSC placed six players in double figures.  

The Cardinals had five players score at least 10 points, starting with 22 each from Mike Mitchell and Reggie Williams.  Edward Correa had 19 points, while Jordan Moody had 12 and Ezra Hodgson 10.  Williams and Hodgson each had a team high 10 rebounds.  

An early 7-7 tie was broken when Hodgson connected on a three with 15:28 on the clock, and the Cardinals stretched the lead to 24-12 as Correa and Mitchell connected on three pointers on either side of Mitchell's layup.  

KSC resounded with a 9-3 run as Dizel Wright fed Lunn for a layup and Doyle stole the ensuing inbounds pass and found Wright for a quick score.  

Plattsburgh ended the half by scoring six straight points, the last of which was Jordan Moody's off-balance jumper at the buzzer to go into the break up 45-33.

Williams' layup with 9:56 to go pushed the Cardinals to a 68-54 advantage, but KSC began to chip away, as a pair of threes from Paul Emdin and another by Matt Ozzella shaved the lead down to 76-70 with 5:54 to play.

Doyle's putback of a Howard miss and two free throws by Nate Stitchell pulled the Owls within four, only to see the Cardinals go back up 85-76 with 3:28 to play as Correa nailed another three.  

After Mitchell went 1-of-2 from the line to put Plattsburgh up 91-85, Emdin was fouled on a three point attempt and two of the three shots with 56 seconds remaining.

KSC was fouling on every possession, and after Mitchell made two more free throws for a 94-87 lead, Stitchell connected on another three with 32 seconds remaining to make it a four point game, and after Williams missed two free throws, Stitchell made two of his own to get the Owls within 95-92 with 12 seconds remaining.  

The Owls got within three one last time on Emdin's fall away jumper with two seconds left, but Hogdson sealed with with on two free throws with .08 seconds.

KSC held a 51-43 advantage on the glass, and committed 21 turnovers.  

"I was surprised by our performance in the first half," said head coach Rob Colbert.  "We looked a little disjointed, which surprised me.  Second half, we kept plugging, but we need to play a lot better.  Plattsburgh's a good team, but I think we can do better."

KSC begins a stretch of four straight games away from home with a trip to Castleton State College on Saturday at 1 p.m.  Plattsburgh State will host Middlebury on January 6 at 5:30 p.m.