KEENE, N.H.--The turkey and stuffing will taste a little bit better for the No. 19 Keene State College men's basketball team on Thanksgiving, after the Owls rolled into the break with a 107-84 win over Springfield College on Tuesday night at Spaulding Gym.

Records

• Keene State: 4-0
• Springfield: 2-2

Quotables

• "It felt great out there; the first couple games this year I've had some trouble shooting but tonight felt really good.  I'm a senior, I've been on the court for four years and I'm expected to play like this.  We're playing hard, practicing hard, and doing well." -- Senior forward Matt Ozzella.
• "I think our guys appreciated how they've played up to this point and wanted to put an exclamation point on our first four games.  We dipped a little in the second half, but our young guys are developing, playing hard.  Jaquel (Edwards) was great tonight; his skill set is tough to match up with. -- Head Coach Ryan Cain

Tale of the Tape

• Senior Matt Ozzella scored a career high 31 points - 22 in the first half alone - as the Owls placed five players in double figures, shooting 59.7% from the floor.  Freshman Deonte Vinson and sophomore Ty Nichols each tossed in 17 points, while senior Jaquel Edwards had 16 and classmate Lucas Hammel added 10.
• Ozzella, who came in averaging 12.3 rebounds, added 12 more as the Owls held a 37-29 edge on the boards.  Vinson added eight rebounds and Damonte Turner pulled down six.
• Keene State also connected on 23 of 39 free throws (79.3%) while the Pride made just 11 of 20 shots from the charity stripe.  Vinson was a perfect 8-for-8, and Edwards was 8-of-9.
• Andy McNulty led the Pride with 22 points, while Jake Ross added 17 and Heath Post had 16.  Brandon Eckles added 11.

First Half Highlights

• An early three from McNulty tied the game at six, but the Owls took the lead on a three point play from Edwards, kickstarting a 16-4 run that gave KSC a 22-10 lead with 11:40 on the clock.  Ozzella had a twisting layup in traffic, and Nichols drained a fadeway three as the Owls surged in front.
• Ozzella rebounded a Springfield miss and went coast to coast for another bucket for a 30-18 lead, then showed his range by knocking down a three with 5:45 to go that made it 38-22.
• The senior added fed Jimmy Layman cutting to the basket for a hoop, and made three more threes in the final five minutes of the half, the last of which came just ahead of the first half buzzer for a 60-33 lead at halftime.

Second Half Highlights

• It was more of the same in the second half, with Deonte Vinson converting a three point play in the early going for a 68-41 advantage.
• Ozzella hit yet another shot from deep that made it 75-45 with 13:55 left and forced Springfield into a timeout.
• Nichols' layup with 11:22 left gave KSC a 34 point lead (83-49), their largest of the game, before Springfield tried to mount a comeback.
• Back-to-back threes from Trey Witter cut the lead to 22 (83-61) with 9:06 remaining, and McNulty did the same, the last of which coming at the 6:43 mark that made it 89-71.
• Springfield kept launching threes, as Witter, Ross, and McNulty connected from deep, trimming the gap to 99-84 with 2:49 left, but Ozzella scored inside, then knocked down a pair of free throws to quash the comeback attempt.

Up Next

• Keene State returns to action on November 30, hosting Trinity College (Conn.) at 7 p.m.
• The Pride will host SUNY New Paltz on November 29 at 7 p.m.