PHOENIX, Ariz.--Nate Howard's double-double was not quite enough as the Keene State College men's basketball team fell to No. 19 and defending national champion Wisconsin-Stevens Point at the Arizona Shootout on Tuesday.

The Owls are now 6-2 and will play Loras College tomorrow.  The Pointers improve to 6-4.

Howard finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocked shots.  Ty Nichols had a team high 13 points, and Jeff Lunn had 12.

Keene State stayed right with the Pointers until the final few minutes.  The Owls led 14-9 on consecutive layups from Tre' Tipton and Jeff Lunn, but the Pointers responded with an 8-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 17-16 lead with 7:28 remaining in the first half.

UWSP's Luke Zuiker gave the Pointers a 26-21 lead with baskets on two straight possessions, but Nichols hit a pair of free throws that cut the gap to three before Sean McGann sank one foul shot to sent Stevens Point into the break up 27-23.

UWSP extended the lead to 36-29 in the second half when Ethan Bublitz canned a three, but a basket from Lunn and two hoops from Nichols pulled Keene State within one with 13:20 to go.  Back-to-back threes from Brad Freeborn and Steven Pelkoffer pushed the lead back to 42-35, but the Owls would not go away, going on an 11-4 run to tie the game at 46 on Nate Stitchell's layup with 9:07 left.

The Pointers would pull away from there, scoring the next nine points.  Stitchell knocked down a three with 2:20 that made it a 57-52 game, but Zuiker and McGann knocked down threes in the final minute to salt away the win.