KEENE, N.H. –  Sophomore guard Nate Siow scored 14 of his team-high 18 points to spark a 52-point second half that helped lift unbeaten Little East Conference leader Keene State College to an 89-74 victory over Eastern Connecticut State University Monday evening at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Keene (13-2, 8-0 LEC) won its fifth straight game and remained unbeaten (6-0) at home this year while Eastern (11-7, 6-3 LEC) dropped its second straight since winning five in a row and fell to 2-5 away from Geissler Gymnasium.

Averaging under ten points a game, Siow was 5-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the foul line with four rebounds, three assists and three steals when the hosts outscored Eastern by nine in the second half to break from a six-point halftime lead.

The LEC leader in scoring margin and field goal percentage, Keene connected on 62.1 percent of its second-half shots and finished at 52.5 percent for the game. Outscored by four points in the paint in the first half, the Owls went inside in the second half to gain a +14 point advantage.

The Warriors, who shot just 39.7 percent from the floor in the game, never led after scoring the first four points of the game but pulled even with seven minutes left in the first half by scoring eight straight points on consecutive three-point field goals from sophomore guard Max Lee (Norwich) and senior guard Thomas Close (East Hampton) and in inside bucket by junior forward Rakesh Tibby (East Hartford).

Keene all but put the game away with a fast start after the breaking, holding Eastern scoreless from the floor for the first three minutes in an opening 8-1 run that lifted the Owls to a 13-point, 45-32 lead. The Warriors whittled the lead to six on junior guard Jalen Williams' (Simsbury) three-pointer with seven minutes before Keene's decisive 10-2 run  pushed the hosts back into a 14-point, 76-62 lead with four minutes left.

Six-foot-seven inch junior Jeff Hunter had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Keene and finished among five double-figure scorers for his team. Lee led Eastern with 22 points – two shy of his career-high and a team-high eight rebounds, while junior guard Tyreice Woods (Hartford) had 15 points, Williams 11 points and five rebounds and junior forward Quinton Lott (Bridgeport) ten points and seven rebounds.

Eastern lost for the second straight time while playing without its second-leading scorer and rebounders.

Eastern visits Massachusetts Dartmouth Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. to play its third game in five days. Eastern edged the defending LEC champions, 75-73, Dec. 8 at Geissler Gym, handing the Corsairs their only loss to date in five conference game.