Owls Fly Past Lasers

Keene, NH - The Keene State College Owls flew away with a 101-74 non-conference win over Lasell College men's basketball at the Spaulding Gym on Thursday night.  

Keene's sophomore forward Derek D'Amours (Agawam, MA) produced a game-high 26 points and freshman guard Ryan Boyle (Brattleboro, VT) went five-for-eight beyond the arc to pour in 17 total points for the Owls. 

Lasell's top scorer was freshman guard Aaron Bray (Boston, MA), who led the Lasers with 16 points and six rebounds.  Senior guard Charles Horton (Detroit, MI) and sophomore forward Javon WIlliams (Mattapan, MA) dropped in 13 and 12 points respectively. 

The Lasers took their first lead after two minutes as Williams hit a jumper to break the first tie of the game.  With 13:28 on the clock, Horton began a run drilling a three-pointer to send the Lasers on a 12-2 stretch, capped off with another trey by Horton.  The Owls turned the tables, scoring the following eight points to close the gap to just two points.  D'Amours made a steal and transitioned to a breakaway layup to take over the lead for Keene with six minutes left in the half. 

The Owls were ahead by ten points with 1:32 left in the first period, but the teams broke for the intermission with a seven point spread between them, at 44-37.  Both teams shot well from the field in the half, Lasell at 57% and Keene at 56%.

Keene ran away with 12 straight points to begin the second half, a deficit from which Lasell did not recover.  The visitors shot just 32% in the half, as opposed to the home team's 62%.  Bray scored 12 of his total points in the second half, and DeShawn Dell (Boston, MA) added eight points and five rebounds for Lasell.

Keene State improves their overall record to 9-8 while Lasell stands at a 5-9 slate.  The Lasers will host GNAC foe Rivier College on Saturday, January 23rd at 2:00 p.m.