KEENE, N.H. - Sophomore forward Derek D'Amours (Agawam, Mass.) scored a game high 25 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead Keene State College to a 86-78 win over UMass-Boston in Little East Conference men's basketball action at Spaulding Gym on Saturday afternoon. It was the 200th career win for Keene State Coach Rob Colbert, a native of Warwick, R.I.

"Coach Colbert got us fired up in the locker room" said freshman forward Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.). "He told us to push the ball up the court and we got a lot of fast-break points.
Colbert said the difference was the Owls' defense. "I thought we defended a little bit better than the last time we played them and also did a better job of blocking out and rebounding," said Colbert. "We're trying to secure ourselves a play-off spot. Every win is critical."

Concerning his 200th career win, Colbert said he was honored to reach the milestone. "I'm thankful for the people who allowed it to happen, all the players and assistants and my wife Michelle, who's been through all the wins and losses. It's been a lot of fun, but we have a long way to go."

Keene State improves to 10-8 (3-4 LEC). UMass-Boston (3-15, 1-5 LEC) suffered its 11th straight loss.

Keene State jumped out to a 16-2 lead following a three-pointer by D'Amours. Five straight points by Fazio put the Owls up by 17 points (26-9) at the 9:44 mark.

The Beacons came back, cutting KSC's leads to four points (39-35) on a jumper by senior forward Ernst Jean (Malden, Mass.) with 1:40 to play in the half.

Keene State went to the locker room with a six point (43-37) lead.

A block by freshman Nicco DeMasco (Swanzey, N.H.), one of his five in the game, led to a base-line three-pointer by D'Amours that put the Owls up 60-46 at the 12:53 mark of the second half.

UMass-Boston got the lead down to six points (69-63) on a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Christian Howell Jr. (Dorchester, Mass.) with 6:50 to play, but they would get no closer. KSC went back up by 10 points (80-70) on a touchdown pass from freshman guard Shane Norris (Burlington, Vt.) to sophomore forward Cody Snow (Leyden, Mass.) who hit the lay-up with 1:43 to go in the game.

The Owls placed five players in double-figures. In addition to D'Amours, Fazio scored 16 points, Snow had 12 points, and sophomore forward Matt Petruzzelli (Gardiner, N.Y.) and freshman Anthony Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) each had 10 points. The Owls were busy at the line, hitting 26 of 38 shots (68%).

Freshman guard Jason White (Roxbury, Mass.) led the Beacons with 19 points and nine rebounds. Howell added 16 points and junior guard Michael Mitchell Jr. (Boston, Mass.) finished with 12 points.

At halftime of the game, KSC honored the memory of Brent Elwell of Keene, who worked with many of the Owls teams before passing Jan. 5.

Both teams hit the road on Tuesday for LEC games. KSC faces rival Plymouth State and the Beacons travel to Southern Maine.