NEW LONDON, Conn. – Connecticut College suffered its first defeat of the season on Tuesday night, falling by an 80-64 final to No. 4 Keene State College in a non-conference men's basketball clash at Luce Field House.

The Owls (3-1 overall) shot nearly 59 percent for the game and had three players score in double digits. Preseason All-American Jeff Hunter (Hudson, Mass.) led the way with a game-high 32 points on 15-for-16 shooting and also added 11 rebounds and three blocks.

Conn shot a season-low 38 percent from the floor in the setback. David Murray (Jackson Heights, N.Y.) paced the Camels with 19 points and 15 rebounds while Billy Whelan (Hamilton, Mass.) came off the bench to add 13 points.

A 9-0 spurt gave Keene State an 11-4 lead after the opening five minutes. The Camels weathered the initial storm and battled back to tie the game at 19-19 on bucket by Murray, but the Owls responded with 10 straight points to seize control.

The Keene State combo of Hunter and Mike Carothers (Corona, N.Y.) proved difficult to stop in the first half. The latter worked his way into the lane and created easy shots for his teammates, with Hunter being the biggest beneficiary at the rim. Carothers handed out seven assists in the stanza while Hunter racked up 15 points, and the Owls held a 39-29 advantage at the break.

In the second half, the Camels stayed within striking distance and slowly chipped away at the deficit. RJ Casey (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Elias Espinosa (Leonia, N.J.) provided three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to make it a six-point game, and later a three by Whelan pulled Conn back to within four at 56-52 with 9:16 to play.

The Owls never yielded the lead, however, as Spencer Aronson (Holliston, Mass.) drilled three-pointers on consecutive possessions to build the lead back to double digits. Aronson netted all 17 of his points in the final 9:03 of the contest and shot 5-for-7 from beyond the arc during the stretch.

Octavio Brito (Lincoln, R.I.), Keene State's other preseason All-American, finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Carothers ended his night with a game-high 12 assists. An NCAA Sweet 16 participant a year ago, the Owls were the unanimous choice to repeat as Little East champions.

Conn (3-1 overall) will next play at Eastern Connecticut State University on Sunday, November 26 at 5:00 p.m.