Mariano, who scored 13 of his points in the second half, added seven rebounds, five assists and five steals for Keene State, which improved to 6-4 on the season. This was the first meeting between the schools even though the Owls had participated in the tournament in 2005 and 2007, finishing runner-up in both years.

Montclair State, which had won its holiday tournament five of the previous seven times since 1999 and finished third the other two, fell to 4-8 on the season with its second straight loss.

A see-sawed first half saw six lead changes and one tie before Keene State got hot from the outside. Trailing 12-8 with 11:44 remaining in the opening period, the Owls reeled off five consecutive shots from the floor, including back-to-back 3-pointers by junior forward John Boyatsis (Dover, N.H./Cheshire Academy), during a 12-0 run to take a 20-12 advantage at the 7:54 mark. KSC, which shot 53.1 percent from the outside in the half, including 7-of-16 from behind the arc, upped its lead to double digits and led by as many as 15 points twice, the last at 37-22 with 3:35 left. Keene State maintained its comfortable lead into halftime intermission, ahead 43-31.  

Montclair State used a run of its own in the first three minutes of the second half to climb back into the game. The Red Hawks outscored the Owls 12-2 to pull within two points at 45-43 with 17:03 to play. Junior forward Ordel Goldson (Hackettstown, NJ, Warren Hills) and sophomore guard John Yates (Bear, DE, Pencader Charter) both scored five points in the run. Goldson, who turned in a double-double performance with 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, scored all of his scoring total in the second half, with Yates adding 11 of his 16 points in the game.

But missed opportunities by way of turnovers, bad shots and missed free throws kept MSU from taking over the lead. The Red Hawks came to within one point at 51-50 with 14:22 on the clock and were again was as close on two more occasions, the last at 66-64 with 8:23 left.

But Keene State then put the game on ice, breaking the game open by scoring 11 of the next 12 points to regain its earlier double figure lead at 77-65 with 5:07 to go. The Owls cruised down the stretch as Montclair State ran out of time, closing to within single digits in the final minute.

Boyatsis scored 16 points and sophomore guard-forward Tom Doyle (Wallingford, Conn., Notre Dame) added 15, including 13 in the first half, for Keene State.

Senior guard Ken Rubenstein (South Orange, NJ, Columbia), named to the All-Tournament Team, scored 20 points, including 11 in the first half, and sophomore guard James D'Angelo (Long Valley, NJ, West Morris Central) chipped in 12 for Montclair State.