KEENE, N.H. – Star senior Octavio Brito set a new career-high with 42 points including 23 after halftime as the No. 22 nationally-ranked Keene State College men's basketball team sprinted to a 116-87 drubbing of the University of Massachusetts-Boston in a Little East Conference contest Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Highlights...coming soon
Postgame Interview (Coach Enright)...coming soon
Postgame Interview (Octavio Brito)...coming soon

The win is the Owls' (18-3, 12-0 LEC) 12th straight and came in large part thanks to a shining performance from their two-time All-American, with Brito surpassing his previous career-high of 40 set last March in a 109-85 second round NCAA tournament win over Eastern University (Pa.).  Today, he made 15-of-21 from the floor including 5-of-9 from three-point range and all seven of his free throw attempts while adding 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.  Even further, Brito moved up another rung on the program's all-time scoring list and is now second with 2,056 career points – behind only Ty Nichols (2,316).  He is averaging 23.3 points per game this season and moved his career three-point shooting mark over 40 percent (255-636).

KSC also received a double-figure scoring effort from Mitch Shettles, who was efficient in his first home start of the season (second overall), pouring in 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting including 3-of-5 from deep.  Wesley Odiase added 13 points (5-12 FG) and Nate Siow had 10 (5-8 FG) as well as a game-high eight helpers as the Owls assisted on 23 of their 43 made field goals.

UMass-Boston (11-10, 6-7 LEC) got an impressive performance from Xavier McKenzie, who put up 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting including 3-of-5 from three, but the Beacons fell to the Owls for the eighth straight time and fell to 3-28 at Spaulding Gymnasium since 1997.

Keene State generated a masterpiece on offense, matching their season-high point total while shooting a season-best 59.7 percent as a team.  They now have the fifth highest scoring offense in the country this season, averaging 91.7 points per game.  With four minutes to go today, the Owls had shot a remarkable 63 percent (41-for-65) overall, 13-of-26 from three (50 percent), and 12-for-14 at the foul line while building a 30-point lead that grew as high as 31.  UMass-Boston, who knocked Rhode Island College off their second place perch with an 84-79 road win at The Murray Center last weekend, shot 43 percent themselves in the opening 36 minutes and was the beneficiary of 15 Owl turnovers – but was well outpaced regardless.

Before Brito took over, Shettles helped get the Owls going early, as he was in double-digits barely over eight minutes, canning a pair of early threes before he scored a jumper and a layup on consecutive possessions to make it 27-15 at the 11:55 mark of the opening half.  KSC led by as many as 13 before McKenzie took over and made it a 32-26 game four minutes later.  It was 35-30 when Tyler Victor was assessed a flagrant one foul on Brito, which the Owls turned it into a four-point trip thanks to two Brito free throws and a basket by Leo Chaikin.  Brito scored inside on an old-fashioned three point play and then canned a shot from long range on consecutive possessions with less than three minutes to go to push a seven-point lead into double-digits (49-36) again, and KSC carried a 53-39 lead to the locker room after Shettles' jumper swished through in the final seconds.

The Owls were never threatened in the second half, pushing the lead to 21 (74-53) with 13:53 to go after Ryan Blakey scored five points and Odiase added a dunk in a 7-0 surge.  Brito added a layup and then a steal and dunk in an 18-second span just two minutes later to make it 81-61, and KSC hit the homestretch up 22 after Joshua Williams joined in on the offensive fun.  Brito tied his career high of 40 following another flush with 7:04 left and two free throws at the 6:43 mark, putting the Owls up 98-75, and then set his new career-best mark with 3:56 to go.  KSC led by as many as 31 on three different occasions down the stretch.

The Owls maintain a firm grip on the top spot in the Little East Conference, two and a half games ahead of second-place Western Connecticut State University and three and a half games ahead of third-place Rhode Island College.  KSC can clinch the No. 1 seed for the upcoming conference tournament with any combination of two wins and two WCSU losses.  The Owls play the Wolves this coming Saturday on the road after a matchup against Eastern Connecticut State University at home on Wednesday night (February 12) at 7:30 p.m.  Keene State took the first meeting at Eastern 99-71 and dismantled WestConn 100-62 in Keene.

Before the game, KSC honored one of their most accomplished senior classes in program history: Brito, Siow, Mason Jean Baptiste, Spencer Aronson (missed game with an injury), and student assistant coach Spencer Mirken.  The group has gone 93-16 (.853) overall over the past three-plus seasons, 55-5 in the conference, won three straight LEC tournament championships, and has made the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 two straight years.

…and their story is not done yet.