WILLIMANTIC, Conn. --  Freshman forward Nick Redden came off the bench to connect on all four of his three-point field goal attempts to help power the Keene State college men's basketball team to a nine-point halftime lead and the Owls were never seriously threatened in the second half on the way to a 74-60 Little East Conference victory over Eastern Connecticut State University Wednesday evening in front of 1,000 fans at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

For Eastern (10-14, 6-9 LEC), the loss to defending tournament champion Keene (10-14, 8-7 LEC) – coupled with Plymouth State's 69-49 win over visiting Castleton University – eliminates the Warriors from qualifying for the six-team LEC tournament which gets underway with first-round games Tuesday. Eastern had reached the LEC title game the last three years against Keene, winning twice.

With one game remaining, Keene remains in a tie with Plymouth for fifth place. Western Connecticut clinched the regular-season title and No. 1 seed with a 77-66 win at Rhode Island College.

Redden, averaging 1.35 three-pointers and 5.4 points per game this year, scored all 14 of his points in the first half, nailing all five of his shots overall. Redden's second three-point field goal with less than five minutes gone gave the Owls the lead for good, 7-6, and his third in two minutes made it 15-10. His inside basket with 11 minutes left pushed the Keene lead to nine, 19-10, and after the Warriors got back to within a point, Redden's final three-pointer sparked a run of nine straight Keene points to end the half and give it a nine-point, 35-26 lead.

Keene outscored Eastern by 12 from three-point range in the first half, the Owls converting six of ten from distance while the Warriors were missing eight of ten.

Sophomore guard Jeric Cichon of Keene led all players with 20 points – 15 in the second half when the visitors' lead never dipped below eight. Freshman forward Jeff Hunter contributed  nine points, ten rebounds and five assists for Keene and turned the ball over only one time in 27 minutes.

Eastern sophomore forward Seth Thomas (Norwich) led three Eastern double-digit scorers with 19 points, grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and blocked five shots. Senior guard Jake Collagan (Wethersfield) scored all 15 of his points in the first half. Junior guard Cory Muckle (Westbrook) added 13 points (3-of-5 from distance) and four rebounds.

Eastern closes out the season Saturday with an LEC game at Castleton University at 3 p.m.

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