DANBURY, Conn. - The Western Connecticut State University Wolves suffered their first Little East Conference loss, 77-69, against the visiting Keene State College Owls in men's basketball action this evening at Feldman Arena.  WestConn is now 13-3 overall and 6-1 in the Little East, while the No. 12-ranked Owls improve to 12-2 overall and 6-0 in the league.  The Wolves will visit LEC rival UMass.-Dartmouth next on Saturday at 3 p.m. Junior forwards Jourdan Belcher and Cameron Gallon paced WestConn in scoring with 14 points apiece.

Keene State jumped out to early leads of 8-2 and 19-8 but the Wolves fought back and trailed by just four points, 28-24, at the 7:08 mark after two free throws by junior guard Jeremiah Williams (Brooklyn, N.Y.).  Keene State jumped back out in front by double digits on a bucket by Tahmeen Dupree only to see the home team score seven points in a row and cut its deficit to 36-32 on a jumper by junior Keeshawn Jones (Middletown, N.Y.) with 3:36 on the clock.  Jeff Hunter scored for the Owls in the closing seconds to make the score, 47-38, at halftime.

The second half was similar to the first, as Keene State took a 12-point lead five minutes into play but led by just five moments later thanks to a strong stretch by WestConn's second unit.  Belcher made two free throws to make the score, 54-49 at the 13:06 mark and the home team kept battling over the next 12 minutes to trail, 73-69, on two more from the charity strip by WestConn's Jaheim Young (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 1:07 left to play.  Hunter answered with a dunk for Keene State and two Wolves threes were off the mark in the final minute.

Belcher was phenomenal off the WestConn bench with 11 rebounds to go with his 14 points, while Gallon also had six rebounds and Williams finished with nine points.  Hunter ended the day with 19 points, 16 rebounds, 10 blocked shots, three assists, and three steals, while Alonzo Linton scored 16 points and Octavio Britt had 15 points for the Owls.  The Wolves outrebounded the Owls, 50-40, but committed 16 turnovers and missed 11 of 13 tries for three-point land.