WILLIMANTIC, Conn. --  The Keene State College men's basketball team scored the final six points of the game to finally pull away from Eastern Connecticut State University, 70-58, in a Little East Conference men's basketball game Tuesday night at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

In a game which featured five ties and six lead changes, Keene (14-0, 6-0 LEC) watched its 12-point lead with four minutes left cut to six twice in the final 1:21 before sinking four free throws with Eastern (6-9, 3-3 LEC) forced to foul en route to scoring the final six points of the game and equalling its largest lead of the game.

The win is only the fourth in the last 20 contests for Keene over Eastern at Geissler Gymnasium.

Playing without top scorer and leading free throw shooter in senior guard Jalen Williams (Simsbury), Eastern led by as many as five points seven minutes into the game before the Owls finally took the lead for good, 24-23, with six minutes left in the first half.

Trailing by five at halftime, Eastern got a driving layup from senior guard Tyreice Woods (Hartford) and inside hoop from senior forward Rakesh Tibby (East Hartford) to slice the deficit to one six minutes into the second half before Keene used a 13-2 run over five minutes to open up a 12-point, 52-40 lead with 8:36 left.

The conference leader in scoring, Keene was held 20 points below its season average but forced Eastern into a season-tying 21 t