Balanced Attack Helps KSC Improve to 12-0 On Road, To Seventh Conference Regular Season Crown in Program History

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Keene State College men's basketball team made sure their first conference loss in over two years did not linger, and because of that, the Little East Conference road again goes through Spaulding Gymnasium as the No. 11 nationally-ranked Owls clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming league tournament by hammering the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth 99-78 at the Tripp Athletic Center Wednesday night.

Records

• No. 11 Keene State:  21-3, 14-1 LEC
• UMass-Dartmouth:  14-10, 11-4 LEC

How It Happened
The Owls, who are now 49-5 over their last 54 games, did something for the first time in program history on this night, which gets harder and harder as time goes on – win the Little East regular season in back-to-back years.  KSC joined the league and had won the league regular season six times (twice shared), but never in consecutive years until now.  Next week, they will aim for their seventh LEC tournament crown and ninth NCAA tournament appearance.

In the meantime, one game removed from their worst field goal percentage of the season, Keene State returned to form, shooting 54 percent from the field and making 8-of-17 from deep and 17-of-19 at the free throw line as they never trailed while beating the Corsairs for the fifth consecutive time.  The Owls placed four and double-figures and saw three score over 20 points, paced by a double-double from each of their All-Americans Jeff Hunter (26 pts., 11-20 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 2-2 FT, 11 reb., 3 asst., 2 blk.) and Octavio Brito (22 pts., 8-13 FG, 6-6 FT, 13 reb., 4 asst.) while Alonzo Linton added an Owl career-best 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting (7-9 FT), three rebounds, and two assists.  Mason Jean Baptiste added an efficient 13 points (4-6 FG, 3-5 3-PT, 2-2 FT) and four boards.  Spencer Aronson returned with eight points and three assists, while Nate Siow had four helpers.

KSC pounded the Corsairs 104-76 in the first meeting between the two teams this season on January 17, and tonight's result was not drastically different, as the Owls led 6-2 less than two minutes in after a dunk by Brito and 14-8 at the 15:56 mark after Linton was fouled shooting a three and made all three free throws.  UMD got a layup from Isaac Percy to make it 14-10 with 14:29 to go in the opening half, but the Owls then embarked on a 14-4 burst over the next four minutes which featured 12 points from Hunter to double up the Corsairs 28-14.  A dunk by Brito 30 seconds later and a more conventional basket shortly thereafter ballooned KSC's advantage to 32-14, and the Owls' run topped out at 20-4 after a Linton layup that pushed the lead to 20 less than 12 minutes in.  UMass-Dartmouth had very few answers defensively for the KSC offense, but chipped away some at their deficit over the remainder of the half thanks to a combined 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting (5-8 3-PT) from Isaac Percy and Nic Boyd.  Boyd reduced the Owl lead from 17 to 36-25 by drilling a pair of threes 34 seconds apart.  UMass-Dartmouth got within nine for 22 seconds before Aronson canned a triple, and Linton pushed the advantage back to 48-34 after a three-point play, but KSC allowed the final five points of the half to lead 48-39 at the break.

It was not a game for long in the second half outside of the Corsairs' opening basket that reduced the edge to 48-41, as KSC answered with a trey by Jean Baptiste that sparked an 18-4 uprising over the ensuing six minutes to push the lead to a game-high 21 points (66-45) with 13:37 to go.  The Owls frequently attacked the basket in that stretch, and beat up the Corsairs on the glass 45-30 including grabbing 16 offensive rebounds, including a Hunter dunk at the 14:38 mark that made it a 17-point game.  Aronson sent home another three with 12:34 left to make it 69-47, and much like in the first matchup, the Owls scored with ease to prevent any UMass-Dartmouth runs.  Ryan Flauto's basket a minute later finished a burst of five points in 31 seconds to trim the home team's deficit to 17, but Jean Baptiste and Odiase quickly countered to make it 76-54 and the Corsairs never got their deficit below that number again.  Second chance buckets on consecutive possessions in the ensuing minutes widened KSC's lead to 83-59 with 8:05 left, and they were able to cruise to the finish line, shooting 54 percent after halftime, 6-of-11 from three, and beating the Corsairs by 10 on the glass in the final 20 minutes.

"First, I want to acknowledge the number of supporting fans that traveled to UMass-Dartmouth.  We feel very blessed to always hear the support!" said Keene State coach David Hastings.  "A bounce back victory is a positive.  It is the direction we want to be headed in entering the conference tournament next week.  We still have a tough game on Saturday vs. RIC with it also being Senior Day for Jeff, Alonzo, and Nicky.  We need to maintain our focus and discipline."

Keene State can win the league title outright on Saturday with a win.  The top three seeds in the conference are already locked in, with the Owls clinching the No. 1 spot, Western Connecticut State University No. 2, and UMass-Dartmouth No. 3.  The top two seeds receive a bye to the semifinals, which are held next Thursday, February 22.

"These veterans deserve the honor of winning the regular season two years in a row for the first time in program history," added Hastings.  "Their hard work and effort to be the best versions of themselves is unmatched."

The Owls weathered a career-best 26-point performance from Nic Boyd, who was 10-for-18 from the floor and 6-of-10 from three-point range.  Percy (5-15 FG, 2-5 3-PT) and Flauto (6-8 FG, 9 reb.) each added 12 points for UMD, who saw a four-game winning streak end.

For KSC, it was the beginning of what they hope will be a four-game winning streak leading right into Selection Monday for the NCAA tournament February 26.

Inside the Paint

• Keene State's other LEC regular season crowns came in 1998-1999 (shared), 2001-2002, 2003-2004, 2005-2006, 2018-2019 (shared), and 2022-2023 (the first 16-0 season in league history after expansion).
• Hunter now has 22 double-doubles this season and is on track to potentially be the statistical champion in that category for the second straight year.  He has 46 in his last 54 games.
• Keene State is 12-0 when Linton scores in double-figures and 10-2 when Jean Baptiste scores at least 10.
• The Owls have won the last four meetings against the Corsairs by a combined 94 points.  KSC has also won three straight at the Tripp Athletic Center, scoring a total of 199 points in the last two wins.
• The NCAA selection committees will reveal their current Top 16 on "Hoopsville" at D3hoops.com on Thursday night.

Up Next

• Tip-off on Senior Day this Saturday (February 27) is at 3:00 p.m. when the Owls close their regular season against Rhode Island College (14-10, 7-8 LEC).  KSC downed the Anchormen comfortably 80-70 in Providence in the first meeting, after which RIC has gone 3-5 including four road losses, three by double-digits.
• UMass-Dartmouth travels to Western Connecticut State University (20-4, 13-2 LEC) on the same day and time.  The Corsairs beat the Wolves 87-84 in the first meeting.