MIDDLEBURY, Vt.--Senior Tom Doyle became the 33rd player in Keene State College history to surpass 1,000 points for a career in the Owls 96-83 non-conference loss to Middlebury College at Pepin Gym on Tuesday night.

It was the final non-conference game of the year for the Owls, who fall to 15-5.  The Panthers improve to 15-4.

Doyle, who came in to tonight's game needing 11 points to reach the millenium mark, knocked down three three pointers in the first half and a pair of free throws early in the second half to join the club.

The senior finished with 25 points, and making him the first player to reach the mark since Eric Fazio, Ryan Martin and Anthony Mariano all did it in the 2012-13 season.

In addition to Doyle's 25 points, Nate Howard added 14 points and Jeff Lunn chipped in 13 off the bench.

KSC was out to a quick 5-2 lead as Dizel Wright fed Howard for a slam dunk on the opening possession of the game, and Doyle swished a three pointer with 90 seconds played.

Consecutive threes from Sinnickson and Merryman tied the game at 12, but KSC went on a 7-0 begun with another three from Doyle and finished with a layup by Matt Ozzella.   

Middlebury would again tie the game at 21 on a basket from Sinnickson, only to see Carlos Ovalle connect on a three pointer at the other end to put KSC up 26-21.  

Two free throws by Chris Churchill and another three from Merryman knotted the score at 27 with 4:20 left in the first half, and Middlebury closed the half on a 14-6 run to take a 41-33 lead at halftime.

Lunn and Doyle kept the Owls in the game in the second half, as the senior's three pointer with 9:33 to play got KSC within five at 67-62, but Middlebury slowly pulled away, going up by as many as 16 points with 15 seconds to go.

The Owls allowed Middlebury to shoot 51% from the field for the game, and the Panthers held a 50-39 edge on the glass.  Dylan Sinnickson and Hunter Merryman each poured in 27 points for Middlebury.

"We had gotten ourselves into a good amount of foul trouble.  They went to the zone and it took a while to adjust," said head coach Rob Colbert.  "They did a good job of attacking in transition."

The Owls were charged with 33 fouls, compared to just 23 for Middlebury.  

"Tom took some big shots.  He's a tough guard right now the way he's playing.  He showed a lot of range.  But we needed other people to get going too," added Colbert.

Keene State returns home to host Rhode Island College in a key LEC matchup at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.  Middlebury travels to Colby College for a NESCAC game on Friday night at 7 p.m.