PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - Junior guard Ty Nichols became the 36th 1,000 point scorer in program history as the Keene State College men's basketball team picked up its first win of the season with a 73-66 win over Plattsburgh State on Saturday evening at Memorial Hall.

Records

• Keene State: 1-1
• SUNY-Plattsburgh: 0-1

How It Happened

Nichols and Miguel Prieto led Keene State with 16 points apiece. Nichols added five rebounds, six assists and a block, while Prieto also contributed four rebounds, four assists and a steal. Dizel Wright added 12 points and James Anozie 10 for the Owls.  Sidi Diallo had eight points, a team high eight rebounds, and three steals.

Plattsburgh was led by two reserves; Nick DeAngelis scored 16 points, making six of his 12 shots from the floor (three from beyond the arc), while Brandon Johnson added 13 points, five assists, two rebounds and a steal. Eric Mack had 12 points, four rebounds, and an assist.

Much like in their season opener, Keene State got off to a strong start. A three-point play from Wright and two layups from Sidi Diallo powered the Owls to an early 11-3 lead at the 15:03 mark. A layup from Anozie maintained the Owls' lead at eight (17-9), but Plattsburgh rattled off the next 12 points, capped by two DeAngelis threes and a bucket from Ian Howard for a 21-17 lead midway through the first half. Three consecutive baskets from Anozie broke a 25-all tie and gave KSC a 31-25 advantage with six minutes to go, and the Owls held off Plattsburgh for the remainder of the half for a 39-34 lead at the break.

A triple from Prieto in the first two minutes of the second half gave Keene State their first double-digit lead of the game (46-36). Plattsburgh got to within seven and forced a timeout from KSC, but back-to-back layups from Diallo put the lead back into double-figures at 52-41 with 15:22 to go. The lead grew to 59-46, but Plattsburgh rode DeAngelis and Johnson during a 12-5 surge that made it a 64-58 game. The Owls pushed the lead back to nine, but triples from Mack and Eli Bryant made it a one possession game (67-64) with 3:51 to play. From there, KSC looked to Nichols to seal the win. He made three big baskets down the stretch, the last of which gave the Owls a 73-66 cushion with 19 seconds to go.

Inside the Paint

• The Owls shot an impressive 54.8% (17-for-31) from the floor in the first half before settling on 49% shooting for the game. Plattsburgh connected on 44% (22-for-50) of their shots.
• Both team's reserves were big factors in this game. Plattsburgh got 37 points from their bench, while Keene State got 29, including Anozie connecting on all five of the shots he took from the floor.
• Plattsburgh won the rebounding battle 40-32, but was undone by 25 turnovers and 15-of-26 shooting from the free throw line. Keene State went just 5-for-11 from the charity stripe themselves.
• The Owls snapped a three-game losing streak to the Cardinals. KSC's last win in the series came in the 2005-06 season, a 101-100 overtime win on a neutral court in Montclair, N.J.
• Nichols now sits on 1,004 points, currently 34th all-time on the KSC scoring list.  It marks the fourth straight season that a KSC player has reached 1,000 points, as Matt Ozzella (1,205 points) did so last year and Nate Howard (1,002 points) did in 2016.  Tom Doyle (1,201 points) accomplished the feat in 2015.  Nichols is the first person to do it as a junior since Derek D'Amours did it midway through the 2010-11 season.

Up Next

• Keene State plays their final game before Thanksgiving, traveling to Springfield College on Tuesday, November 21 for a 4:00 pm tip-off.
• Plattsburgh will travel to Skidmore College on Monday, November 20 for a game that starts at 7:00 pm.