BOSTON, Mass. – Raphel Laurent and Cameron Perkins combined for 54 points and got to the free throw line 29 times as the University of Massachusetts-Boston pulled away midway through the second half for a 93-80 win over the Keene State College men's basketball team in Little East Conference action Saturday afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center.

The Owls (9-9, 5-4 LEC) saw their modest three-game winning streak end and might have seen their first-place hopes dashed, as they sit three games behind the Beacons (12-6, 8-1 LEC) and were swept in the regular season series by UMass-Boston for the first time ever.

Keene State got off to a strong start, scoring the game's first six points including a Liam Johnston three on the first possession and opened an 8-2 lead on a dunk by Denis Wainaina at the 15:02 mark.  But the Beacons slowly took control from there, going up 15-14 on a three by Carson Meczywor with 10:54 left in the half.  KSC ran off five in a row including another triple by Johnston to go up four, but the home team went on a 16-4 burst while making 7-of-8 from the field over a 4:11 span to take a 34-25 lead with 3:18 to go.  Kareem Porter Jr. and Johnston, who combined for an efficient 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field, brought the Owls back within a possession with five straight points as the clock ticked under 30 seconds, but Davon Sanders hit a jumper in the final seconds to give his team a 40-35 lead into the locker room.

Things went south in the second half for KSC, who fell behind by double-digits at 49-38 less than four minutes in.  They twice got within six after that and were still hanging around down 64-55 with 9:49 left, but the Beacons made four free throws on the next two possessions to go up 13 and that kickstarted an 11-0 run that pushed their lead to a game-high 20 (75-55) with 7:17 left.  The home team's advantage grew to as high as 22 with 6:32 left, and that more or less sealed the game.  Ryan Blakey hit two free throws with 4:58 to go to make it 81-67, but the Owls never got closer than 12.  Leo Chaikin's steal and transition dunk with 2:31 on the clock got KSC within that margin, but Laurent made two free throws right after.  Chaikin made two at the line on the next possession to make it 88-76 with 2:10 left, but Skyler Venezia did the same 18 seconds later as UMass-Boston maintained a firm grip on first place in the conference, now two games clear of Western Connecticut State University, the University of Southern Maine, and Rhode Island College.  Keene State is now in fifth, one game behind that trio of teams.

Free throws became a huge part of the story in the final 20 minutes.  After 18 combined between the teams (Keene State 10 attempts, UMass-Boston 8) in the first half, it was a parade to the charity stripe after halftime – 56 times combined between the teams with UMB going 31-for-42 (74 percent) and Keene State 10-for-14 (71 percent).

"It was a tough result for us today.  It is hard to win a game where the opponent shoots 50 free throws," said KSC head coach Steve Enright.  "UMass-Boston is a tough matchup with three versatile and explosive scorers to try and contain, and we did not do as good as job as we needed to defensively.  On to Castleton."

Laurent finished with 29 points (8-15 FG, 3-5 3-PT, 10-17 FT), six rebounds, and four assists.  Cameron Perkins added 25 points (6-15 FG, 1-4 3-PT, 12-12 FT), seven rebounds, four assists, and three blocks while Sanders had 19 and Venezia 13.

Chaikin led KSC with 14 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

The game was not without a milestone, as Mitch Shettles' six points make him the second Owl transfer to reach the 1,000-career point milestone this week (Jordan Cooper).  He has 448 points in 45 games as an Owl after 552 in 46 games with the United States Coast Guard Academy in his freshman and sophomore campaigns.

UMass-Boston shot 41.8 percent from the field and KSC 39.4.  The Beacons were 8-of-18 from three and the Owls 8-of-22, and KSC dominated the glass 44-31 including 17 offensive rebounds.
The Owls are 52-11 in the all-time series, but have dropped consecutive games against the Beacons for the third time ever (February 4 and 25, 2006; January 25 and December 12, 2015).
KSC returns home to host Vermont State University Castleton (5-13, 0-9 LEC) on Tuesday (January 27) at 7:30 p.m.  The Spartans were within 51-50 against the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth at home with less than six minutes to go today, but lost 70-56.