R.I. COLLEGE UPSETS KEENE STATE 86-48; ADVANCE TO FINALS
KEENE, N.H. 3/3/06- The fourth seeded Rhode Island College men’s basketball team advanced to the finals of the ECAC Division III New England Tournament for the second straight season with a 86-48 upset victory over top seed Keene State College in a semifinal game played on Friday night.
The Anchormen (19-9) will play the winner of the semifinal game between No.2 MIT and No. 6 Wheaton College for the title on Saturday. Wheaton defeated RIC in last year’s championship game. Keene State concludes its season with a 21-8.
Dominating from start to finish, Rhode Island College opened up a commanding 45-24 halftime lead. With the score 21-17, the Anchormen went on a 19-5 to go up by 18 (40-22) on a three-pointer by Kevin Payette (Woonsocket, R.I.). A three-pointer by Kinsey Durgin (Greenwood. Me.) pushed the lead up to 45-24. Brian Stanko (Swansea, Mass.) had 13 first half points for RIC while Sean Sullivan (Athol, Mass.) topped the Owls with seven points.
The Anchormen never let the Owls back into the game in the second half. A slam by John Weir (Danbury, Conn.) and a tip in by Payette extended RIC’s lead to 27 points (59-32) at the 14:07 mark.
Stanko, who hit seven of nine three-point attempts, led RIC with 25 points. Payette had 13 points and nine rebounds, and Durgin finished with 11 points. The Anchormen hit 16 of their 37 three-pointers and outrebounded the Owls 50-36.
Sullivan topped the Owls with 13 points.
Keene State was making its seventh appearance in the tournament in the past nine years. They reached the finals in 1998 and 2003.
The two Little East Conference rivals split their two regular season meeting with each posting home victories. The Owls prevailed 99-86 in Keene while RIC came back to win 75-67 in Providence.