Walt Wilburn, Keene State's public address announcer and Spaulding Gym's resident DJ must have known something. With 1:50 to go and the Owls' trailing 76 -75 to the No. 1 ranked Panthers of Middlebury, his song selection couldn't have been better: "Tonight's going to be a good night" resonated throughout the gym – serving notice what was about to happen.
Led by junior Rashad Wright's (Agawam, Mass.) 15-point, nine-rebound performance, including a clutch turnaround jump hook that put the Owls up 77-76 with 1:12 to play, Keene State held off Middlebury for a 77-76 non-conference win in front of a sellout and loud and frenzied crowd on Tuesday night.
"It's the greatest feeling I ever had in my life, to beat the No. 1 team in the country," said junior Eric Fazio (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) who finished with six points and three rebounds, and a couple of big blocks in crunch time.
"We had an opportunity tonight that every team wishes it has and we just took advantage of it," said junior point guard Ryan Martin (Wayne, Maine), who seemed to have his hands on the ball all night. "I think we played as hard as we could possibly play. We out-hustled them all game and when our backs were against the wall, we didn't cave in and just kept on playing. We were tough all night that's why we got the win."
Following the timeout and the song the Owls went to work, getting the ball to Wright down on the blocks. He hit the third of his three jump hooks off the glass to put the Owls up 77-76 with 1:12 to play. "It's a shot I know I can make, said Wright. "I stayed confident and kept going back to it and eventually it started falling."
KSC junior Anthony Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) stole the ball at the other end, but the Owls gave the ball back to the Panthers following a shot clock violation with 19.2 second to go.
Junior Nicco DeMasco (Richmond, N.H.) then turned in the defensive play of the game, holding his ground and taking a charge as Panther sophomore Joey Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) went in for a lay-up.
With 11.8 seconds left and the Panthers pressing, KSC was forced to take another time out when they couldn't get the ball into play. KSC coach Rob Colbert inserted senior Steve Boudreau (North Andover, Mass.) into the lineup and he was able to get the ball into Martin, who was quickly fouled.
Martin, one of the top free-throw shooters in Division III, missed the front end of the one-and-one. "In the end everyone had confidence in me making the free throw," he said. "I missed this one, but we found a way to pull it out."
Keene State's defense came up big once as Wright went up and blocked a potential winning basket by Kizel. The loose ball went off a KSC player, giving it back to Middlebury with 2.2 seconds on the clock. On the inbounds play, the ball again went out of bounds with .8 seconds left.
Colbert explained his teams' strategy: "With 2.2 seconds left we thought they'd go to a shooter. With .8 left we felt strong they were going to lob it to (Ryan) Sharry so we were really protecting against the lob."
Unable to go for the lob, Middlebury got the ball to Sharry at the three-point line, who got his shot off the backboard and front rim, as KSC pulled off the upset victory. "We knew if we got a stop we'd win. So we buckled down like we've been doing all year."
The Panthers pecked away at the Owls lead in the second half, taking their first lead (60-58) on a three-pointer by Kizel. Later in the half, the hot-shooting Kizel nailed consecutive three-pointers for the right, left and top of the key to give Middlebury a 10 point lead (72-62) with 6:21 to play.
But the Owls wouldn't be denied. Martin hit a three-pointer and Mariano connected on a jumper to make it 72-67. Martin then went to the line following a flagrant foul, hitting both shots to cut the deficit to three (72-69) with 4:26 to go.
Wright answered a couple of Panther free throws with a put back slam to keep it at a three point game (74-71). Getting the ball back after a turnover, Wright ripped the ball away from a Middlebury player, getting it to Hunter, whose layup made it 74-73.
Kizel, who finished with a game-high 24 points, hit a couple of free throws to push Middlebury's lead back up to three points. A putback by Demasco made it a one-point game (76-75). The Owls got the ball back on a steal by Wright and the music began to play.
When it was over a jubilant crowd stormed the Spaulding Gym floor. "The crowd was ridiculous. I have to give it up to our fans," said sophomore Montel Walcott (New Haven, Conn.) "The crowd definitely gave us energy tonight. "
"I think it so good for this institution,' said Colbert. "To see the fans storm the floor, that's what this is all about. That's why you have athletics. It can bring so many groups together.
"It puts us in the national conversation. It's definitely a marquee win for the program."
In addition to Wright, three other Owls finished in double figures. Mariano scored 14 points, and Martin and Hunter each had 11 points.
Senior Ryan Sharry (Braintree, Mass.) had 18 points. Sharry and junior Peter Lynch tied for a game high with 10 rebounds.
The Owls, who shot 42% (30-for-71) from the field, struggled at the line, hitting just 13-26 (50%). Although they had a slim 38-37 lead in rebounds, the Owls were a terror off the offensive glass, winning the battle 21-10.
Middlebury shot 49% from the field (26-for-53) and hit nine of its 13 shots from behind the arc. Kizel was a perfect 4-for-4. The Panthers also had a good day at the line, going 15-17 (88%).
Keene State is now 3-2 against nationally ranked teams this season. Posting wins over R.I. College (92-91), Eastern Conn. (64-56) and Middlebury and dropping games to Williams (103-77) and Western Conn. (94-87). It's the first time KSC has faced a No. 1 team since its days in Division II when it was beaten by Bridgeport during the 1992-93 season.
Extending its winning streak to a season-high six games, the Owls (15-4) travel to Rutland, Vt. on Thursday for a non-conference game against St. Joseph's.
Keene State is now 3-0 lifetime against Middlebury (18-1), which suffers its first loss of the season.