Keene, N.H.-Rhode Island College dropped an 80-64 decision at Keene State in a Little East Conference contest played at Spaulding Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. It was the regular season finale for both clubs.

Sophomore forward Justin Campbell (New Haven, CT) paced RIC (11-13, 5-9 LEC) with 16 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Chris Farrington (Fall River, MA) added 13 points, four boards and two assists, while junior guard Malcolm Smith (Old Orchard Beach, ME) was also in double figures with 10 points.

Keene State (17-8, 10-4 LEC) was led by senior forward Matt Ozella (Medway, MA), who tallied a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Jaquel Edwards (Manchester, CT) notched 18 points and added seven boards, while freshman guard Damonte Turner (Dorchester, MA) recorded 14 points in the victory.

RIC controlled the action early and took a 10-2 advantage on a layup from Donaldson with 16:02 left in the first half. Keene State responded and used an 11-2 run, capped by a three-pointer from Turner, to take its first lead of the contest, 13-12, with 11:35 remaining in the stanza.

The Owls continued their run and took their first double-digit advantage, 25-15, after a three-pointer from Turner with 9:40 left in the half. Keene State led by as many as 16 points late in the first half before taking a 44-31 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

The Anchormen chipped away at the lead during the opening stages of the second half and trimmed the deficit down to just two points when a three-point play by sophomore forward Benjamin Vezele (Providence, RI) made the score 58-56 with 11:06 left in the contest. That would be as close as the Anchormen would get as Keene State pulled away down the stretch en route to the 80-64 victory.

RIC shot 37.1 percent (23-of-62) from the field, 35.0 percent (7-for-20) from behind the three-point stripe and 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the free throw line. Keene State shot 44.3 percent (31-of-70) from the field, 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from three-point land and 90.9 percent (10-for-11) from the free throw line.

 In upcoming action, sixth-seeded RIC will travel to third-seeded UMass Dartmouth in first round action of the 2017 Little East Conference Tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 21.