KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College men's basketball team shot 55 percent from the floor and outscored Eastern Connecticut State University by 12 points over the final 4:34 of the first half to wipe out a 12-point deficit and end the Warriors' nine-game winning streak, 99-92, Wednesday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Now 9-1 at home, Keene (13-5, 6-2 LEC) moved to within a game of conference-leading Eastern (13-6, 7-1 LEC) after delivering the Warriors their first loss this year since Dec. 18 and first LEC regular-season loss after eight straight wins dating back to last Feb. 20. Keene had been the last conference team to defeat Eastern, 75-49, last Feb. 17 at Spaulding Gym.Eastern has lost two in a row on Keene's floor since defeating the Owls six straight times at Keene, NH.

Keene's final point total was the highest allowed by Eastern – the LEC leader this year in scoring defense (66.9) – since Keene eliminated the Warriors in the first round of the conference tournament, 100-75, on Feb. 24, 2009 in Keene, NH. Eastern's final records that year (12-14, 6-8 LEC) were their last losing marks.

Eastern got a taste of what it might be like after senior forward Hugh Lindo (Enfield) – the program's all-time leading rebounding and 1,000-point scorer – ends his four-year career: the Warriors led by 12, 44-32 with 4:34 left in the first half but managed only one field goal and three points after Lindo  exited for the remainder of the half with injury, allowing the hosts to steal the Warriors' momentum and pull even, 47-47, at the half.

 Eastern trailed by as many as ten in the second half but later took a one-point lead with seven minutes left. The lead changed hands four times before the Owls went ahead for good, scoring six in a row to take a five-point, 86-81 lead into the final four minutes.

 Lindo and junior guard Tarchee Brown (Rockville) each had 23 points, Lindo (10-of-12 FG) grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds for his seventh straight double-double, and Brown sinking 11 of 12 free throws (9-of-9 in the first six minutes of the game). Sophomore guard Tyrell Arnum (Bloomfield) added 16 points, 12 coming in the first eight minutes on 5-of-5 shooting.

Junior guard Kendall Marquez (Willimantic) came off the bench to drain five of eight three-pointers – three coming in a span of three minutes in the first half and two in the final 39 seconds of the game. Marquez' three long-range missiles sparked an 18-5 run over four minutes in the first half that turned a one-point deficit into a 12-point lead, 44-32, prior to Lindo's injury. The Warriors never trailed from that point on until Lindo took a 55-second breather early in the second half. Eastern  led by a pair when Lindo left with 17:32 remaining in the game, and trailed by four when he returned.

The 6-foot-4 inch Lindo was charged with his fourth personal foul with seven minutes left and Eastern leading by one and was disqualified for the first time this year with five personals with the Warriors down by three with 18 seconds left.

Freshman guard Carlos  Gonzalez (Springfield, MA) handed out a career-high 11 assists -- more than double his previous best -- and also stole the ball three times with just a single turnover in 37 minutes.

Ty Nichols, Matt Ozzella and Jaquel Edwards combined for 74 of Keene's points. They were 26-of-42 from the floor and 16-of-25 from the stripe. Ozzella (17) and Nichols (16) combined for 33 second-half points, with Dizel Wright grabbing nine rebounds. The Owls were 19-of-33 (57.6 percent) in the second half and 11-of-15 from the foul line.

Eastern hosts Rhode Island College Saturday at 3 p.m. in a conference game.