KEENE, N.H. – Despite a career-best 33 points from senior Carl Joseph (Brockton, Mass.) men's basketball was unable to take down the Owls of Keene State College as they were handed a 107-97 loss in the Little East Conference opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium.

Joseph went off in Saturday's loss, as he finished 13-for-17 from the field, 3-for-5 from behind the arc.  At the charity strip, Joseph finished 4-for-7, and also managed eight boards, and a pair of blocked shots.

With the loss the Beacons fell to 6-2 overall, 0-1 in the Little East.  For the Owls, they remain undefeated with a perfect 7-0 record, 1-0 in the conference.

Also having a big game for the Beacons was senior Gregory Young (Dorchester, Mass.), who finished with 18 points and nine boards.  Layo Medina (Brockton, Mass.), dropped in a career-best 18 points and had seven boards in the conference loss.  Off the bench, Karl Agenor (Dorchester, Mass.) finished with 14 points, but was limited to a season-low three rebounds in 23 minutes of action.

As a team the Beacons shot a season-high 55.6% (40-72) from the field and 30.8% (4-13) from 3-point range.  The host Owls was just as consistent from the floor, as they went 39-for-77 (50.6%) and 7-for-24 (29.2%) from behind the arc.

On the glass the Beacons posted a 41-38 advantage, but the 24 Beacons turnovers proved to be a major factor in the loss, as Keene State converted them into a combined 29 points.  In the paint the Beacons matched-up well with the Owls big-men as they outscored them 62-54.

After falling into a big hole to start off Saturday's conference opener, the Beacons fired back with an impressive 21-6 run over a five minute span to cut the Owls lead to just one (22-21).

Medina, gave the Beacons their first lead of the day on a lay-up with less than nine minutes to play in the opening half.  The two teams would continue to battle back-and-forth in the closing minutes, but it was the Owls who owned the late momentum as they went into the break with a 52-44 lead.

In the second half, the two squads went basket-for-basket early on, but it was the Owls who would to start to pull away on the scoreboard.  However a late 10-4 run by the Beacons cut the deficit to 10, but it was not enough.

Tom Doyle led the Owls with 23 points as he went 5-for-16 from the floor, three 3-pointers, and a perfect 10-for-10 at the line.  Jaquel Edwards and Nate Howard each grabbed nine boards, with Howard finishing with 16 points, followed by Edwards who had 15.

The Beacons return to action on Thursday when they host Pine Manor College at 7 p.m.